Gor Mahia striker Benson Omalla has revealed what inspired him to take the last Mashemeji derby by storm as the reigning league champions cruised to a 2-0 win over AFC Leopards last Saturday.
Omalla scored both goals, expertly taken, to give K’Ogalo all three points and put him top of the goalscoring charts after six matches.
Speaking to Sports Eye, Omala said that following head coach Jonathan McKinstry’s advice helped him a great deal as he got everything going for him during the match.
“As a player, you have to follow the coaches’ instructions,” Omala said. “The coach has been telling me to ensure that all my shots are on target and make runs behind the defenders,” he added.
“As a striker, that is where I am supposed to be.”
Omala has admitted that he got a lot of messages from angry fans criticizing him for failing to score in the last Mashemeji derby, which motivated him to do well against Ingwe this time round.
“The other time, I got messages (criticising me for not scoring). You know I have been scoring in other games but if you do not score in one game, they start talking,”. Omalla
“As a striker, that is my job. I get them from fans, some are my friends and they keep telling me to score goals in big games like the derby and I think they motivate me.”
The 22-year-old striker has admitted he was nervous at first but settled the nerves when he touched the ball a couple of times and then scored his first goal of the game.
“It was a big game. There were a lot of fans in the game and at first, I was a bit nervous but as the game went on, I scored my first goal and was really in the game,” said Omala.
“I wanted to take many touches of the game so that I could get into the game.”
Gor Mahia will face Tusker in their sixth league game of the season hoping to get all three points in order to keep the pressure on surprise league leaders Posta Rangers.