Game week 13 of the Ethiopian premier league, which was played from last Saturday till yesterday, saw Kidus Giorgis maintaining their lead at the top with Mekelle 70 Enderta being stunned by Fasil Ketema on home soil; Ethiopia Bunna still remains in the drop zone.
This round’s fixtures kicked off on Saturday at the Tigray international stadium as the biggest fixture of the weekend saw Mekelle 70 Enderta host their arch rivals Fasil Ketema. Mujib Qassim’s brace helped Fasil Kenema register their first away win of the season. Once again, the spot kick course for Mekelle at the Tigray stadium continued with Amanuel G/Micheal missing from 12 yards in the first half, an opportunity that would have seen his side draw level after going 1-0 down early in the game.
With this 2-0 win Fasil continued their chase for top spot, sitting on second place just a single point adrift of the league leaders Kidus Giorgis, while Mekelle still reside at 3rd with 22 points, a further three points away.
On Sunday, Hawassa got away with a narrow 1-0 win against 10 men Jimma Aba Jiffar, with Biruk Beyene once again proving to be their savior.
In the Diredawa satdium, hosts Diredawa Ketema failed to hold on to their 1-0 lead, courtesy of Muhedin Mussa strike in the first half, conceding late to end up drawing one all against a resilient Sehul Shire side, who played with 10 men for the majority of the second half. Habtamu Shewalem’s successful spot kick salvaged a point for the visitors.
Bahirdar Ketema also returned to winning ways after coming up on top in the five goals thriller against Sebeta Ketema at the Bahirdar International Stadium. Last season’s Ethiopian higher league top scorer Sintayehu Mengistu grabbed a brace for Bahirdar, while star player Fitsum Alemu added another for the home side in a match that ended 3-2 in favour of “The Waves of Tana”. Tadele Mengesha and Syila Ali scored the goals for Sebeta Ketema.
Four star Kidus Giorgis hammered Wolwalo A.U at their own back yard registering their first win of the campaign away from home. The former Dedebit duo Getaneh Kebede amd Abel Yalew are once again the difference makers for “The Horsemen” as they scored a brace each for the second week running. Dawit Worku scored the consolation goal for a Wolwalo side that seem to have lost the wining mentality they displayed early in the season, and are now winless in their last 6 fixtures. Kidus Giorgis remain top the standings with 26 points.
In the only fixture on Monday, Sidama Bunna earned hard fought three points against Adama Ketema. Sidama, who were without their Skipper Addis Gidey for the first half, were scoring for fun, but their shaky defense was once again on display.
In the match that ended 3-2, all five goals were scored in an entertaining first half; Amanuel Endale, Habtamu Gezahege and Dawit Tefera registereed the goals for Sidama while Bulcha Shura and Tewodrose Bekele were on the score-sheet for Adama. Sidama Bunna were able to hang on to their 3-2 lead and see off second half to grab all the points on offer, and bounce back from the thrashing they suffered against Kidus Giorgis last week.
An the same venue the following day, Hadiya Hossana sufferd yet another loss, this time against Wolaita Dicha. Hadiya Hossana, who are serving a two match home ground ban and had to stage the fixture in Hawassa, were led by their new trainer Tsegaye Kidanemariam, and were indeed the better side for the majority of the game. However, they were unable to convert the multitude of chances they had, and had to pay the price as a 26th minute header from Degu Debebe handed the visitors the much needed three points.
The final fixture of the round, initially scheduled for Sunday but later postponed to Thursday due to the Annual AU summit held in the capital, saw Ethiopia Bunna facing an unprecedented challenge from newly promoted side Wolkite Ketema, and being forced to settle for a draw. Ahmed Hussien broke the deadlock in the 10th minute handing the lead to Wolkite Ketema, but Bunna levelled matters on the 29th minute through Fikreyesus T/Birhan.
Once again there were voices of dissent from Ethiopia Bunna supporters, in protest of their side’s non progressive possession football.
