Yadah…………………………… (2) 2
CAPS United………………… (1) 1
CAPS United’s hopes of making it to the knockout stages of the Chibuku Super Cup suffered a huge dent after allowing Yadah to rally from behind and hand them their first defeat of the tournament at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
After a goalless draw against ZPC Kariba in their last match before football was temporarily suspended owing to a surge in Covid-19 positive cases, this was an occasion when victory was a prerequisite for the Green Machine.
But after a bright start in which Ismael Wadi scored an early goal -— just five minutes into the match, it was shocking how Makepekepe lost their way afterwards.
They allowed Tanaka Shandirwa to equalise on 22 minutes before Godknows Mangani converted from a contentious penalty on 33 minutes to seal a memorable victory for the Miracle Boys, which took them to second place on the log table with eight points.
With the loss, CAPS United dropped down to third place on the standings with seven points from six matches and risk falling further if either ZPC Kariba or Harare City win their game in hand while log leaders Dynamos who face Herentals today could stretch their lead at the top.
CAPS United coach Darlington Dodo felt hard done by the penalty decision and was at loss of words to describe it.
“I think we had a good start and that is how we had planned the game, taking the early lead……. and be on the safe side. Unfortunately, when we scored we slowed down the tempo of the game,” Dodo said after the match.
“We started making slow buildups and our opponents capitalised on that and started pressing us high and we lost possession in critical areas and we conceded.
“But when it was 1-1, that’s football, we re-organised and started playing again.
“But the decision on the penalty now, it’s sad because it decided the game and it demotivates opponents.
“If things are going to be like that it’s sad. We put a lot of effort in these things. We have to re-group, it’s water under the bridge now.
“Very sad, very heart broken but we will re-group to make sure that we come back again.
“We are a team that has planned hard for this tournament and we still want our plans to be fulfilled. I know with the boys that I have we can turn things around.
“But obviously we need to change in terms of attitude and character because when we took the lead we relaxed and that’s when we ended up giving away a goal.”
The Green Machine had a perfect start only to relax which allowed Yadah to come back into the game.
Things were also made worse after defender Munya Kunyarimwe was forced out with an injury.
Makepekepe tried but in vain to salvage something from the game as they found Yadah defence marshalled by the impressive Lennox Mucheto and Bright Chayambuka unyielding.
Yadah coach Genesis Mangombe was delighted with the victory while praising his charges for a job well done.
“I’m delighted with the win. As coaches winning is something that we work for and it’s even sweet especially that we were playing against CAPS United,” Mangombe said after the match.
“We are just taking it each game at a time. As underdogs we don’t need to put too much pressure on our boys. We are building a team and we will see how things unfold. The good thing is that we are in the contention for a place to the knockout stages.
“These are new boys and we are trying to teach them a lot in terms of attacking football. The good thing is that they are responding very well.
