Gunners . . . . . . . . . . .(0) 1 Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2 Guthrie Zhokinyi came to the rescue of under-fire coach Kalisto Pasuwa with a spectacular winner three minutes from time as Dynamos beat 10-man Gunners in an incident filled Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Lafarge Stadium yesterday.
Rodreck Mutuma put the league champions ahead in the 33th minute when his well struck shot, off a layoff from Tichaona Mabvura found the top corner.
But Gunners hit back early in the second half when Moses Muchenje converted from the spot after defender Patson Jaure was adjudged to have appended William Manondo as he charged towards goal.
The goal stabilised the Gunners ship and Pasuwa, who came into the match under pressure from supporters following the team’s 1-0 loss to Harare City last Wednesday, was facing the prospect of yet another disappointing result.
However, Zhokinyi stole the points with a stunning free-kick from inside the penalty arc to relieve the pressure on his coach.
The free-kick was awarded after Gunners defender Pardon Chinungwa brought down substitute Derrick Kabwe.
For his actions, the former Masvingo United defender was shown a straight red and he followed his goalkeepers’ coach Lazarus Pararai who was also sent for an early shower moments earlier by referee Pascal Chadya for remonstration.
Gunners should be feeling hard done by an inconsistent Chadya though who hesitated to show Dynamos striker Takesure Chinyama a red card for a second bookable offence. The big centre forward, who was already sitting on a yellow card for dissent, deliberately handled the ball, but escaped with just a warning. The win saw Dynamos moving two places up the log standings to seventh position with 17 points while Gunners moved one step in the opposite direction to 11th position with 14 points.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
In his post match comments, Pasuwa said: “I’m very much relieved but the pressure is still on. “We need to continue picking up points in the next matches. I am worried with the number of chances we are missing in our matches.
“Against Harare City it was the same, we created chances and failed to convert them and we were punished at the end. We have to work in that area,” said Pasuwa.
His opposite Thanks Tengwe conceded his charges fell to a better side.
“Dynamos had a good show today (yesterday) and they deserved to win this one. They could have scored at least three goals in the first half but then we absorbed pressure and scored early in the second half.
“I thought we had done enough to steal a point but overall my boys did not play well and I should give it to them (Dynamos),” said Tengwe.
Pasuwa rang four changes to the team that was humiliated by Harare City, bringing in Augustine Mbara on the left back position and pushing Thomas Magorimbo who played in that position on Wednesday, upfront.
Chinyama and Mabvura started the match in a 3-4-3 formation with Mutuma and Vengesai helping the former Polish-based striker upfront. For a long time Dynamos dominated play and could have scored a basketful of goals but the strikers took turns to miss with Chinyama the main culprit. The former Hwange and Monomotapa striker was very casual on the ball.
