tawandamusarurwa
Sports Reporter
Ngezi Platinum Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
CAPS United . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
HOSTS Ngezi Platinum Stars were left to blame themselves after they fluffed a glut of chances and literally let CAPS United off the hook in their Castle Lager Premiership tie at Baobab yesterday.
Although they stretched their unbeaten home run at Baobab to 11 matches, Takesure Chiragwi’s men know they could have spiced up that record with a win.
Ngezi last lost a league match at Baobab on April 30, 2022, when they suffered a 1-0 loss to relegated Harare City. Chiragwi indicated that he would be working on polishing his attack.
“We really need to work on our strike force. A good performance needs a good result and I am pretty confident that going forward, we will get it right.
“We have to take the point.
“I think we had a very good game and a very good day in terms of the general analysis of the game, as we did what we should do in a game but, unfortunately, our conversion rate was not up to standard.
“It is an area that we need to work on,” said Chiragwi.
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe was happy but expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the Baobab pitch.
“It is a point that we will take home and I am very much happy with the fact that it’s another game without conceding.
“And also we did not play our normal game. We did not pass much as the state of the pitch did not allow us to do so.
“It made it very difficult for us . . . the pitch is in a bad state,” said Chitembwe.
Despite playing second fiddle, CAPS United came close to getting an early goal as early as the second minute, when Godknows Murwira saw his long range free-kick being saved by Nelson Chadya.
Having survived the early scare, Ngezi quickly launched a counter-attack through Delic Mulimba, whose cross found Ellson Mweha inside the box but the Ngezi forward hurried his effort and he could only hit the side netting from a good scoring position.
And from then on the platinum miners started controlling the game, forcing CAPS United into defensive mode. The pressure came close to paying off in the 20th minute, when Marvelous Mukumba beat his marker on the left flank before sending in a cross, which was received by Tinotenda Murasiranwa. Murasiranwa did well to control the ball, only to shoot straight into the hands of CAPS United’s Tonderai Mateyaunga.
CAPS United had a good chance of their own in the 25th minute, when 2022 Golden Boot winner William Manondo saw his goal bound effort being blocked by Kudzai Chigwida inside the Ngezi Platinum Stars box.
Ngezi continued to pile pressure on the visitors, and Murasiranwa had another golden opportunity on the half-hour mark, when he came to the end of a Mulimba flick but he lost his footing, as he attempted to go for goal in a one-on-one situation.
Seven minutes before the break, Walter Vuwa did well to beat his marker on the left flank, sending in a cross, which found an unmarked Mweha in a good scoring position inside the CAPS United penalty box, only for the Ngezi forward to blast his effort over.
In the second half, Ngezi kept the momentum but they lacked the cutting edge.
Murasiranwa should have thrust them into a 48th-minute lead off a free header which he could only direct into Mateyaunga’s waiting hands.
Mateyaunga was called to action again in the 58th minute, when he saved Leslie Kashitigu’s volley. Chiragwi made a double substitution in the 67th minute, bringing in Tawanda Mandinyenya and Malvin Gaki for Murasiranwa and Mweha but the goals remained elusive.
Online Reporter