Gor Mahia defender Daniel Sakari believes the club is heading in the right direction after the SportPesa League defending champions began their title defence with consecutive victories, putting a difficult pre-season and disappointing CAF Champions League campaign behind them.

K’Ogalo opened their league campaign with an entertaining 4-2 victory over Murang’a SEAL at Nyayo National Stadium on October 13 before grinding out a hard-fought 1-0 win against APS Bomet on October 17.

The results have given Charles Akonnor’s side six points from their opening two matches, placing them at the top of the league standings as they prepare to face Bandari FC at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday, October 24, with kick-off scheduled for 7:00 PM EAT.

Speaking after the positive start, Sakari described the two victories as important steps towards Gor Mahia’s ambition of retaining the league title.

“First of all, I think I will speak on the two wins in the SportPesa League against Murang’a SEAL and APS Bomet. I will say those are big two steps. They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and I think the step can only count if it is positive,” Sakari said.

“So, I think those are big positive steps, and we are going in the right direction of defending the league title.”

The defender’s optimism comes after a challenging period for the record Kenyan champions, who endured a difficult build-up to the new season before suffering setbacks in domestic and continental competitions.

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"'We are back": Defender Daniel Sakari reflects on our two wins to open the season… 🔥

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Gor Mahia started their league campaign in impressive fashion against MSEAL, with Alpha Onyango opening the scoring in the fifth minute before Shariff Musa struck twice in the second half. Jackson Dwang also found the net as K’Ogalo built a commanding lead, although Josphat Lopaga’s brace gave Murang’a some hope late in the match.

The champions then had to work harder for their second victory against APS Bomet. With the match heading towards a draw, Onyango scored in the 84th minute after being set up by Ben Stanley Omondi to secure all three points.

For Sakari, the early results offer encouragement as the team looks to build consistency after a pre-season that exposed areas requiring improvement.