The Ethiopian premier league 10th week fixtures were played across the country in the weekend, with Kidus Giorgis registering an Emphatic 5-1 win over Mekelakeya on Saturday, while Ethiopia Bunna drew with Sidama Buna away from home. League debutants Sehule Shire and Debub police played out a 1-1 Draw.
The weeks’ fixtures commenced at 3 pm local time where new comers Bahir dar Ketema won 2-0 against Dedebit Fc thanks to an own goal from Dedebit skipper Ephrem Getachew and a second half strike from Togolesse import Arfat Djako. The match was first scheduled to be held on Sunday, but was surprisingly changed to Saturday under unknown circumstances. This unexpected change of date led to a decrease on Matchday attendance of the Bahirdar Dar International Stadium, which was routinely packed with fans close to full capacity in the clubs previous league games.
Bahir dar Ketema, affectionately called by their fans as ‘ the waves of Tana’, seem to enjoy life in the top tier as they having sit 4th on the league table only 4 points a drift from league leaders, with two games in hand.
The match also marked the second time this season a top flight game between clubs from Tigray and Amhara Regional States in either of the two regions, after fan trouble and security concerns forced the Federation to have the games played on neutral soil. The completion this match, and last week’s double encounter between Wolwalo A/U and Fasil kenema in the Premer league and the Ethiopian cup at the Mekelle international stadium without any security glitch or hooliganism may herald a new period of relative stability in the league.
Meanwhile, Adama Ketema, who are showing a great resurgence in the last couple of games after their poor league start, registered their 3rd successive win of the campaign, with last weeks Hat-Trick hero Dawa Hotessa again being on target to hand his side all the three points at home with a slender 1-0 win over Diredawa Ketema.
Mekelle 70 Enderta, who also returned to winning ways last week with home victory against Sidama Bunna, continued with their good form recording a 1-0 win against Hawassa Ketema – a late strike from Amanuel Gebremichael being the diffrence between the two sides. Following this loss, the Lakers (Hawassa) missed the chance to climb to the the top of the league.
The biggest surprise of the week came from the Addis Abeba stadium, as Kidus Giorgis thrased old rivals Mekelakeya 5-1. The wide margin of victory was rather unexpected as on Wednesday, Mekelakeya were able to knock Kidus Giorgis out of the Ethiopian Cup.
The players and staff of the horsemen were under an immense pressure following that Ethiopian cup exit, but they responeded in great fashion scoring five goals to Mekelakeya’s one.
The ex-Ethiopian national team strike force partnership of Salhadin Said and Summer recruit Getaneh kebede was on show, leading the Horsemen’s front line for the first time, contributing 3 goals on the day.
Getaneh Kebede bagged a brace, with Salhadin Said scoring once; the remaining goals were scored by Mualem Mesfin and promising youth product Samuel Tesfaye. Following this win, Kidus Giorgis sit on 3rd, 4 points behind league leaders with a game in hand.
Mekelakeya suffered successive 5-1 losses in the league at the hands of Adama Ketema and Kidus Giorgis, and their Head Coach Seyoum Kebede has a few difficult days ahead of him to turn things around.
Sundays’ fixtures all finished in a stalemate, with league leaders Ethiopia Bunna who traveled to Hawassa drawing 1-1 against Sidama Bunna. Ethiopia Bunna were 1-0 up early in the second half through a strike from the youngster Aboubakar Nesru. Sidama Buna left it late as Veteran forward Mohammed Nasser came off the bench to put his team level in the dying minutes of the game. Ethiopia Bunna, having played all 10 matches, are leading the chart with 19 points.
In other fixtures, games between new comers Sehul Shire and Debub Police ended in a 1-1 draw, with Wolaitta Dicha and Wolwalo A/U also sharing the spoils after their game finished with a similar scoreline.
