Harambee stars have beaten Morocco 1-0 in their third CHAN group stage match at the Moi Kasarani International Stadium in a thrilling match on 10 August 2025.
The lone goal was scored by Tusker FC forward Ryan Ogam in the 43rd minute after capitalizing on a 50/50 ball in the Moroccan defensive box.
Impressive Kenya
McCarthy named a very different squad from the side that hardly fought for a draw against Angola at the Moi Kasarani International Stadium.
Most notably in the interesting lineup named by the South African international was the exclusion of wonderkid Austine Odhiambo and first choice captain Aboud Omar who both started on the bench for the first time in the tournament.
The game started off with Morocco with the upper hand, as they tested Kenya’s defence with two quick attacks that were both saved by Kenya’s goalkeeper Bryne Omondi.
In the 8th minute, Harambee stars players were given a wakeup call as Morocco’s Ait Oukhmane hit a well-timed header towards the Kenyan post only for Bryne Omondi’s heroics being deployed to save Kenya again as he parried the ball away for a corner.
Kenya responded immediately, forcing Morocco to commit several fouls in the early minutes but Kenya were persistent, and the ball was majorly in the Moroccan half of the pitch in the first 20 minutes.
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Morocco’s Mohammed Moufiq was injured in the Moroccan box in the 20th minute while defending against Ryan Ogam and he could not continue two minutes later, having to be stretched off and was substituted.
The game was fair from them on, and it got physical as it progressed with the referee having to give out stern warnings to both sets of players.
Kenya’s golden moment came in the 42nd minute when Tusker FC forward Ryan Ogam in the 43rd minute after capitalizing on a 50/50 ball in the Moroccan defensive box.
The Moroccan defenders were found flat footed as they poorly and desperately tried to clear the ball away from their defensive box.
However, Kenya’s joy was short-lived as in the third minute of additional time in the first half, Harambee Stars midfielder Chrispine Erambo was shown a straight red card after a serious untimed tackle on Anass El Mahraoui.
For the second consecutive time in the tournament, Harambee Stars had to go through the majority of a match with a man less, after Marvin Nabwire fouled Angola’s Deivi Viera.
Coach Benni McCarthy and his technical bench were visibly angry at the red card and immediately asked all Kenyan players to come back and defend.
For the next two minutes, the whole stadium was quite quiet as Kenyan fans were left in shock after the red card and the half time whistle offered both the players and fans a chance to catch a breath after a very eventful last five minutes of the first half.
Calculated Second half
The second half begun with changes from both sides as Morocco made two substitutions, bringing in Saber Bougrine and Youssef Mehri to replace Ait Ourkhane and Elmehdi Harrarr.
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Kenya brought in Alpha Onyango to replace Edward Omondi as McCarthy tried a more defensive approach as the two Moroccan substitutions were both offensive.
With ten men on the field, Harambee Stars struggled to maintain possession and did more defensive work as Morocco doubled their attacking efforts.
The goal scorer of the lone goal Ryan Ogam and Ben Stanley were replaced in the 63rd minute by Sebastain Wekesa and Omija Alphonce.
The rest of the match saw Harambee Stars maintain their defensive discipline and avoided conceding another goal.
Harambee Stars remain top of Group A in CHAN 2024 and Harambee Stars have automatically qualified for the next stage which is the quarter stage.
Kenya face Zambia on Sunday 17, 2025, in what is expected to be another hugely changed lineup by coach Benni McCarthy.
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