Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports
Scottland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 2
Petro de Luanda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
SCOTTLAND needed their veterans Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona to break down the resistance from 10-man Petro de Luanda and take a healthy advantage in the first leg of the CAF Champions League second round match at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
The Mabvuku side, who are playing for the first time in Africa, got a huge boost when Billiat gave them a 66th minute lead before setting up Musona for the insurance goal 10 minutes from time.
The two-goal advantage will be crucial ahead of the return leg in Angola this coming Friday.
Scottland coach Norman Mapeza believes the duos’ experience will be needed more in their quest for a group phase berth on the first attempt.
“That’s why they’re here. I spoke about it on Saturday. I said, look, I think whatever they bring to the team, I can’t place any value on it. It’s priceless,” said Mapeza.
The Scottland players were showered with a US$150 000 bonus by club president Scott Sakupwanya and Joachim Chivayo, brother to the late club benefactor Wicknell Chivayo who died last month in a helicopter crash.
The win yesterday did not come on a silver platter despite their opponents playing one man short for almost the entire match.
Petro de Luanda’s goalkeeper Hugo Marques was shown a straight red card by South African referee Abongile Tom for a dangerous challenge outside the box on Panashe Mutimbanyoka about 25 seconds into the game.
The Angolans had to sacrifice midfielder Mario Barlbudia to accommodate second choice goalkeeper Maulucano, who was a bundle of nerves early on.
Maulucano scrambled a powerful strike from Billiat and was almost caught off guard by Musona as Scottland seized the momentum early on.
The goalkeeper strayed off the line in a desperate attempt to clear danger but he only had the job half done.
Scottland fans were already on their feet when veteran Knowledge Musona controlled the turnover ball and attempted to lob over the defence but the ball narrowly sailed over the crossbar.
But these were the only moments in the first half where Mabviravira enjoyed 60 percent of the possession.
Scottland continued with their patient build-ups while the visitors clogged the midfield and were happy to let them have the ball, while they kept a low defensive block.
The tactic seemed to worked in frustrating the hosts as Luanda managed to contain all the raids and ensured the teams went to the breather goalless.
Scottland returned from the interval unchanged despite the first half frustrations and the glaring shortcomings especially in wide areas.
Perhaps the biggest let down was on the right flank where Emmanuel Jalai looked ineffective after he was thrust into a more forward position.
Probably the technical team had hoped the workaholic fullback could replicate his good show from the first leg when he provided the assist from the flank for the sole goal that sank Eswatini side Nsingizini Hotspurs at the same venue in the first round.
But Jalai turned up flat yesterday.
Scottland still enjoyed the upper hand in front of an appreciative crowd after CAF capped attendance to 10 000.
A good scoring opportunity immediately fell on Billiat soon after the restart but the forward disappointingly dragged his shot wide with the keeper at his mercy.
Musona also forced a good save from Maulucano after the goalkeeper had left his area, again in a desperate measure to thwart the advancing Scottland dangerman.
The visiting defenders reacted swiftly and Musona was prevented from taking a clean strike, as the ball trickled just wide of target with about 10 minutes played after the resumption.
The introduction of Walter Musona for the ineffective winger Jalai proved a masterstroke.
Scottland also changed their plan and started using width. Walter Musona drew his markers to the wide right and then sent in a brilliant cross that was met by Billiat, to break the deadlock in the 66th minute.
Scottland continued to play with confidence and the conviction paid off when Billiat raced into the opposition territory before drawing two men to himself.
This created space for Knowledge Musona who responded with aplomb to the pass from his long-time friend to double Scottland’s tally.
Mapeza still insisted they had to dig deep
“Playing against 10 men is never easy. Such games are difficult,” Mapeza said.
“First half, we kept pushing. They looked very organised. There were so many guys in the back, and like I said, the second half, I spoke to the guys to not try to attack through the centre. It was congested over there.
“Then we have had to go through the flanks and we got our goals, I think, through the flanks. So, you can tell that they’re very experienced. Because if we didn’t have that quality to bring on those crosses, maybe it was going to end up nil-nil.
“But we brought in Walter. I think he gave us what we were looking for,” Mapeza said.
Petro de Luanda coach Jao Pedro Sousa felt the early red card destablised his team.
“Yeah, a bad result, of course.
“A bad result and a bad game. We started with one red card in the first 20 seconds. It was very hard, very difficult.
“Our confidence dropped a lot in that moment. We tried to manage the game after that, but it was very difficult. The confidence, like I said, dropped,” said Sousa.
Teams:
Scottland: Nelson Chadya, Kevin Moyo, Knowledge Musona (Neville Tengeg, 88th min), Khama Billiat (Seth Patrick, 88th Patrick), Kwakhe Thwala, Tijani Al-Ameen, Aboubakar Moffat (Moses Shidolo, 78th min), Tijani, Issaka Mohamed, Emmanuel Jalai (Walter Musona, 58th min), Mthokozisi Msebe, Panashe Mutimbanyoka
Petro Atletico: Hugo Marques, Antonio Hossi, Eddie Alfonso, Joacquim Balanga, Ruben Aderita, Mario Balburdia (Maulucano, 1st min), Benny, Jorge Perreira, Tita Vanilson, Jonathan Toro (Illidio Panfa, 65th min), Depu (Tiago Azulao, 65th min)
