Stars Abroad: Nkana miss Abuya as Gonzalez watches Las Palmas rout

Kenyan internationals Duke Abuya and Ismael Gonzalez failed to feature for Nkana and Las Palmas respectively on Thursday.

Ismael Gonzalez 

The midfielder was an unused sub as Las Palmas obliterated Lugo 6-1 in the Spanish Second Division to boost their promotion charge.

Gonzalez who was part of the high profile names omitted from the Harambee Stars squad has struggled for game time at Las Palmas.

Juan Juanpe opened the scoring for Lugo, five minutes into the game but their lead lasted only seven minutes as former Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Jese Rodriguez equalized.

Roberto González and Sergio Araujo scored late in the first half to ensure Las Palmas went into the half time break with a comfortable win.

Roberto scored his second of the game three minutes before the hour mark as he completed his hat-trick in the 88th minute as Aridai Cabrera drilled the final nail in Lugo’s coffin in the 90th minute.

The result cuts the gap between them and promotion places to three points as they look to return to LaLiga for the first time since 2018.

Duke Abuya

The former Kariobangi Sharks midfielder was not in the matchday squad for Nkana FC as they registered a 2-2 draw against Green Buffaloes in the Zambian Super League.

Abuya was fresh from featuring for Harambee Stars in the 1-1 draw against Egypt and started in the 1-2 win over Togo.

Nkana failed to explain Abuya’s absence but explained why three players sat out of the match.

“Freddy Tshimenga and young Patrick Gondwe will still miss this encounter due to injuries. Kevin Moyo is also out as he is still unwell,” read a statement from Nkana.

Nicholas Mulilo broke the deadlock in the 11th minute with the game seeing a late flurry of goals as Emmanuel Mwiinde equalized in the 84th minute.

Jackson Chirwa regained the lead for Buffalos two minutes later as Ackim Mumba secured a point for Nkana with a minute left of the clock.

Nkana who are the reigning Zambian champions are struggling for form this season as they currently sit in the relegation zone but have three games in hand due to their exploits in the CAF Confederation Cup.