Waiswa’s last-gasp penalty leaves Mbarara City fuming as Gaddafi rise

Mbarara City left Jinja fuming after a last-gasp penalty saw them lose 1-0 to Gaddafi on Sunday at the Gaddafi Arena.

The Mbarara side entered the match sitting in the red zone of the table after another Jinja side Busoga United overcame Express with a similar result to leap over them on Friday.

However, despite their position, it is the hosts who showed some urgency with a series of attacks early on. They could’ve crafted something just after seven minutes when Brian Kalumba went down in the box but the referee Ahmed Kakembo waved play on as his assistant tried to signal something else.

Things went bad for the Ankole Lions when their captain Solomon Okwalinga was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 59^th after going hard on Charles Ssebutinde. It turned worse for the visitors who seemed to be clinging on to a point as they bought time with medical breaks when the referee added seven minutes only to concede a penalty in the 96^th which left them fuming and protesting. Seif Batte had been fouled in the box.

“The table standing puts every team under pressure and that’s why you saw them trying to waste time tactically but that cost them because we eventually picked the points,” Gaddafi head coach Peter Onen said of the win.

Gaddafi has missed several opportunities to pick points where Hassan Musana failed to score three penalties in a row. The team’s decision to hand Andrew Waiswa the responsibility in Sunday’s game paid off with the goal that left Mbarara City bench and players walk away protesting and shunned the media after the final whistle.

The result lifts Gaddafi into the top eight with 24 points while Mbarara remain grounded on 16, a point below safety.