Zifa Northern Region Division One log leaders Black Rhinos dented their chances of winning the title after a costly 2-0 defeat to Flame Lily at Chikurubi on Friday.
Report by Henry Mhara
Luckily for the army side, second placed DStv Rangers could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Scotia on the same day.
The result means Rhinos maintained their lead at the top with 50 points, six ahead of Rangers with seven games before the curtain comes down. The defeat was Rhinos’ first in the second round of matches and assistant coach Matsika Ndega is demanding a reaction from his side in next match. Rhinos host Eiffel Flats on Saturday, while DStv will also be at home to Jumbo Giants.
“The defeat was a rude awakening to us. We didn’t play well and for the whole match we never looked like we will score. Thumbs up to Ralph Kawondera and his technical team, they played a good match. They pressed us from the word go and could have scored at least three more goals. We have nothing to complain about in that match. We created just two chances the whole 90 minutes. We were outclassed by a better team,” conceded Matsika.
He added: “Thank God, our nearest rivals could not capitalise. We need to recover from that loss. We can’t afford to drop more points in the next matches. We still have some tricky fixtures coming up and there is no more room for error at this stage. The game against Eiffel Flats is a must win match.”
