Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
CAPS United . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1
Manica Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
CAPS United took a huge leap in ring-fencing their Premiership status when edging Manica Diamonds in this intense tie at Rufaro yesterday.
Congolese import Chris Mugalu tapped home the all-important goal five minutes past the hour mark to take the Green Machine’s tally to 38 points, four above Dynamos who occupy the last relegation spot.
The duel had everything on the plate, given the stakes as both the hosts and guests were fighting to pull away from the fall zone’s vicinity. Although Manica Diamonds brought their A-game to the table, it was Makepekepe who did the most to get the best out of it.
And the result was a significant step towards survival for them with coach Ian Bakala expressing optimism, especially after guiding his team to two successive wins after also defeating Simba Bhora by the same scoreline a fortnight ago. Bakala said, “I think for me, I want to be happy when we pull out from relegation.
“At the moment, I’m just glad for the players despite that we didn’t have our strong team. But I think the spirit was good. We started very low. I think we have used players in certain positions where we just have to because of injuries.
“I think we’ve got four or five players who are injured.
“But it’s good that even then, they did well at collecting the points.
“It’s almost difficult to heal, despite we wanted more.
“We just have to focus, looking at the team.”
Without regulars Tanaka Shandirwa, Kundai Benyu and Bruce Kangwa, Bakala tinkered with pushing Chinga Chitoshi into defensive midfield and dropping back Brian Kadamanja in the second half after CAPS United were literally overrun in that department in the opening phase. Those midfield struggles were in full display, Makepekepe failing to even have a single shot on target for 45 minutes.
But the second-half adjustment worked well to tip it into their favour, and 20 minutes into the second half, Ishmael Wadi squared from the right for Mugalu to pick the full points.
Added Bakala: “I think it was a crucial game for us.
“But no matter how we play, at the end of the day, we only needed the three points which I think the players have delivered today (yesterday).
“Well, I think the message is always the same despite, like I said, some of the players, I think, if you have seen it.
“Despite not playing well in the first half, we had to adjust, looking at, again, the group of players we have at the moment. We had to move to Chitoshi. I think from the adjustments in the second half, it was a different ball game altogether and we got a goal, which is good. And everything else, we leave it to God and focus on the next game.”
While Bakala and CAPS United fans celebrated for moving closer to safety, it was a different story for their visitors and their coach Tafadzwa Mashiri who have the same number of points as Dynamos (34), who occupy the last slot of safety with only three games before the season comes to a close. Mashiri was disappointed to walk away on the losing side, especially after outplaying CAPS United in most phases of play and creating the clearest chances of the match. Mashiri said, “In terms of performance, we did well, controlling most phases of the game, and we controlled play, we dictated pace, and ended up creating a number of chances, which we thought we could convert, but we couldn’t. “That’s our main problem, and we lost it on the transition from attack to defence, and we got punished on that transition.
“Again, we were not that organised. We could have dealt with that situation in a better way, but we found ourselves in a game where the worst could have been a draw, and that point was going to be massive for us in terms of fighting relegation, but we find ourselves going back home empty-handed.
“That’s football, and we look up to the next match, we prepare and work on our weak areas, especially attack and our transition, such that we can improve our conversion rate.”
It is a match that Manica Diamonds could have surged ahead inside the opening 10 minutes but Fortune Binzi’s deflected shot weakened, and CAPS United goalkeeper Stephen Kwaku comfortably gathered it.
The Mashiri charges controlled the midfield with good passing between Anelka Chivandire, Clive Dzingai and Bret Amidu as their hosts struggled to stabilise themselves.
But the half-chances they created went away.
At the opposite end, Wadi should have punished them but his first touch wasn’t too good when receiving a cut-back from Junior Bunjira and he ended up sliding the ball wide.
The second half started with Manica Diamonds still pinning down their opponents and Binzi should have scored when receiving a good pass from Chivandire but was lackadaisical in the box. And then everything changed when Mugalu gave Makepekepe the lead.
Manica Diamonds tried hard and even created two more clear chances but the script never changed.
Teams:
CAPS United: Stephen Odai Kwaku, Wesley Milanzi, Jimmy Dzingai, and Kelvin Mangiza. Chitoshi Chinga, Brian Kadamanja, Nyasha Chintuli, Junior Bunjira (Tapiwa Matongo 75 min), Phineas Bamusi, Ishmael Wadi (Shawn Mzinde 82min), Chris Mugalu (Jayden Bakari 90 min)
Manica Diamonds: Geofrey Chitsumba, Charles Teguru, Lawrence Masibera, Lawrence Mhlanga, Ask Rupande, Jeffrey Takunda, Clive Dzingai (Nigel Mpinduki 74min), Bret Amidu, Evans Katema (Tinotenda Murasiranwa 72min), Anelka Chivandire, Fortune Binzi (Tshipamba Babadi 84min)
