Gerald Mutsvairo
at NATIONAL SPORTS STADIUM
CAPS United……………………..(1)1
Yadah FC ……………………………. 0
CAPS United bounced back to winning ways with a slender win over a plucky Yadah in a Castle Lager Premiership game yesterday.
Makepekepe skipper Phineas Bhamusi delivered the vital goal that helped the Harare giants atone for their 2-1 defeat to Tenax in Mutare last weekend.
The Green Machine almost failed to fulfil the Sakubva match after their players staged an industrial action over unpaid salaries on the eve of the trip to Mutare.
The Lloyd Chitembwe-coached side started the match in high tempo and almost found the opener as early as the sixth minute when midfielder Devon Chafa rattled the crossbar with a powerful shot from outside the box.
Makepekepe continued piling up pressure on the Yadah defence but lacked precision in front of goal.
Midway through the first half, Bhamusi sent through a delightful pass to Joseph Thulani but his hurried shot missed the target just before half time break.
The Harare giants finally drew first blood in the 38th minute when he profited from a Thulani assist off a well-hit corner by Musarurwa.
The Green Machine came back from the half time breather a little sluggish and they almost conceded a goal at the outset of the second half.
Valentine Musarurwa lost the ball in a dangerous area to Yadah’s Kudakwashe Mangame in what seemed like an easy opportunity to draw parity but the striker shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
CAPS thought they had scored their second when their lethal marksman William Manondo headed home after a beautiful cross by Musarurwa in the 54th minute but the goal was ruled by the referee.
Yadah tried to find the equaliser by mounting several counter attacks that kept the Green Machine’s defence busy.
Wasteful Mangani sped past Musarurwa on the 55th minute mark but his shot was stopped by Tonderai Mateyaunga in goal for Makepekepe.
But with CAPS largely containing the counter attacks from Yadah, they were forced to dig deep to protect their slender lead after their defender Marshall Machazane was send off in the 73th minute after being in a scuffle with Yadah players.
Thereafter Yadah piled pressure in an attempt to take advantage of their one-man advantage but they failed to breach the Makepekepe rearguard.
After the match, CAPS Coach Chitembwe praised his charges for delivering a perfect performance.
“I am happy we won today. It was a good game and we kept everything good and we came up with good results.
“I have good feelings about the result. Defensively and offensively we did well, and we were composed on the ball.
“We are looking ahead to our next game. Hopefully, we will be able to reproduce what we produced today.
“The league is very competitive, it’s not going to come easy but we will fight hard,” said Chitembwe.
His opposite number — Genesis Mangome — blamed the defeat on lack of concentration.
“We failed to concentrate and we ended up conceding a goal. It’s a game of football, we tried our best to come back but we failed to score.
“We need a bit of maturity and calmness in front of the goal. We matched our opponents and at some point, we had good ball possession but we failed to convert the ball into the net.
“We are going back to the drawing board. Let’s go and re-organise to make sure that we correct our mistakes and move on.
“We are playing Tenax next. We need to prepare for this game and make sure we don’t make mistakes like we did today in this game,” Mangome said.
