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Pasuwa in winning start

Sport
Shooting Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1)1 Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)4 Dynamos new coach Calisto Pasuwa started his reign at the Harare giants on a high note after his team […]

Shooting Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1)1 Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)4

Dynamos new coach Calisto Pasuwa started his reign at the Harare giants on a high note after his team crushed a wasteful Shooting Stars in a rather dull Castle Lager Premier Soccer league match played at Rufaro yesterday.

Pasuwa who only took over the hot seat at Dembare on Tuesday last week was under pressure to do well and not only did he pass his first assignment well but his coming in also some few notable changes in the Dynamos system.

The Harare giants reverted back to their traditional pre-match ritual of praying on the goal line, a practice that had long been discarded by former coach Lloyd Mutasa.

Stars ended the match with 10 men after their goal scorer James Chitereki was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Murape Murape in the 90th minute.

The Tonderai Marime coached side dominated proceedings from the first whistle and deservedly opened the account after 20 minutes when Chitereki got to the end of a pass from former Dynamos winger Edmore Mashiri to chip over the sprawling Washington Arubi in goals for Dynamos.

At that moment Dynamos had failed to stamp their authority with the midfield department proving the team’s biggest undoing.

The midfield quartet of Denver Mukamba, Archford Gutu, Tawanda Muparati and Milton Makopa looked ordinary as they failed to string at least five consecutive passes among themselves and thus starving the attacking duo of returning Cuthbert Malajila and lanky Rodrick Mutuma of any clean balls upfront.

Stars were in control until the 26th minute when they left Thomas Magorimbo unmarked near their box, allowing the roving right back to swing in a perfect cross that was headed home by Malajila.

The goal did not dampen the Stars’ spirits however as they continued to take the game to their more fancied opponents but their strikers just let them down with some strange shooting.

Elliot Matsika had the best chance to put his side in front again at the stroke of halftime when he weaved past the jittery Dynamos defense but surprisingly shot wide from inside the six-yard box with Arubi already committed. In the second half, Shooting Stars continued from they had left in the first stanza but again their strikers took turns to miss some guilt-edged chances.

With almost every chance created going begging, there was always danger that Shooting Stars will be punished on the rear end.

In the 69th minute, Dynamos were awarded a corner kick which subsititute Murape Murape swung into the box and midfielder Tofirei Sambo handled the ball as he tried to clear his lines and referee Thabani Banala pointed to the spot. Mutuma stepped up to convert with a powerful shot that beat a diving Godfrey Brown.

Sparred by that goal, Dynamos stepped up the gear with Murape who had came in for Denver Mukamba in the 56th minute causing most of the damage with some direct runs in the opposition box.

The veteran midfielder capped that five star performance with a goal in the 86th minute when he collected a loose ball after Mashiri had been disposed by Malajila, to begin a mazy run that saw him beat two defenders before blasting past Brown.

Magorimbo made the win more resounding when he ghosted in from the right to meet a lay off from Malajila before realeasing a scorcher from an acute angle that gave Brown no chance.

The win took Dynamos to third position on the table with 33 points while Shooting Stars remain on second from the bottom with 17 points.

Pasuwa, who assumed the hot seat this week from personal friend Lloyd Mutasa, chose to be diplomatic in his post match interview.

“The team played well but i did nothing today really. I just added Malajila and did some few changes in the set up but most of the work was done by the previous technical team. We did not play well in the first half as my players were always second to the ball but we improved in the second half. Overally we need to work hard, we can improve from today’s performance,” said Pasuwa.

His opposite number Marime said the score line was a bit flattering for Dynamos.

“The score line does not reflect the true picture of the game. We played very well in the first half and we managed to score a goal but we lacked concentration thereafter and we were punished. We created a lot of chances but again failed to capitalise and Dynamos managed to take theirs but its a game of football, you lose some and win some. We will pick up in the next games,” said Marime.