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IT was the one great image which will always define the latest chapter of the Harare Derby.
Of course, it’s not the THREE goals which Dynamos scored, in their comprehensive victory over their hapless opponents.
After all, Manica Diamonds scored SIX, which is twice as many goals, against the same opponents, in a league match.
After all, FC Platinum scored as many goals, THREE, in just 45 minutes, of their easy victory at Mandava, in a league match.
So, the number of goals was unlikely to provide the defining image of the Harare Derby.
Especially, with struggling CAPS United coming into the match on a horror five-game losing streak, in the league.
Instead, the image of the match was provided by the Derby’s biggest personal individual battle of the afternoon.
The one between Valentine Musarurwa, a veteran of the Derby who once captained Makepekepe, and Issa Sadiki, playing his first match of this magnitude.
A clash between the experienced fullback and the diminutive forward who, if the truth be told, was probably only playing because the regular, for that role, was ineligible.
So, here is the picture of that defining image.
Musarurwa on the floor, left for dead, in no-man’s land, bamboozled by trickery, wondering what had hit him.
Reduced to both a victim and a witness, by the sheer magic of an opponent desperate to seize his moment on the big stage, turning on the show of his career.
A familiar foe he knew very well, from their time together at the Green Machine, where he came looking for opportunities but was deemed not good enough by the coaches who were in charge.
The latest offering from the Sadikis of Highfield, a football family which had already given us Tapuwa Kapini and Ali Sadiki.
Two players, on the opposite sides of the field, one a goalkeeper, the other a forward, who took their places among the stars of the domestic Premiership.
Both ended up being good enough to take their talents across our borders with Kapini becoming a lengthy servant of South African football.
Ali played in Zambia and the DRC.
On Sunday, in the biggest match in the capital, their brother Issa introduced himself to the Dynamos fans, in particular, and the Harare Derby, in general, with a stunning individual performance.
For a man who was playing for Yadah Stars, just a few months ago, this was quite an upgrade, a bigger challenge and the toughest assignment he has had to deal with in his career.
The shoes he was asked to fill, wide on the right side of the Dynamos attacking channel, have become bigger and bigger, with each passing month. That’s largely because of the way the man who wears them, teenage forward Bill Antonio, has been turning in some impressive performances, which have caught the eye.
Billy The Kid was not available on Sunday, as he completed punishment for his expulsion against Highlanders, in the Battle of Zimbabwe.
It created an opportunity for Issa, him of the diminutive frame, a child prodigy which the people of Highfield were certain would become the biggest star in his football-rich family.
And, boy oh boy, he grabbed it with both hands and turned on the kind of individual show which this Derby had been missing, for some time, as it drifted towards mediocrity, over the years.
Now and again, he would tease Musarurwa, with some fancy footwork, creating an avenue of real hope for the Glamour Boys, down that right channel.
It became clear, in the first half-an-hour, as to who was the darling of the crowd largely dominated by the Dynamos fans.
With love pouring from the stands, Issa grew in confidence and produced the moment of the match, with a drop of the shoulders, which fooled Musarurwa.
The defender’s instincts told him to cover the outside but, in an instant, Issa cut inside and, as Musarurwa’s brain, and reality, clashed, it brought in a flood of confusion.
The defender went down, beaten all systems out, and Issa found himself with acres of space inviting him to come and conquer.
In the past, this Derby was built on a number of such memorable moments, in just one game.
Times have changed and, in today’s version of the Derby, getting one such moment is a blessing and, on Sunday, Issa provided it.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter