HISTORY favours Dynamos ahead of their highly-anticipated Castle Premiership top-of-the-table football clash against Highlanders at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday.
REPORT BY HENRY MHARA SPORTS REPORTER
The two giants are separated by two points with five matches left to play, making this fixture a must-win for both sides. Dynamos are in first position, Highlanders in second.
A Dynamos victory will also all, but eliminate the other 14 teams from the league race as third-placed Monomotapa can only get to 59 points if they win all their remaining matches. But if Highlanders win, they will move a point above Dynamos, thus blowing the title race wide open again.
Much has been made about the two teams’ current form where Highlanders have suddenly hit turbulence. On the other hand, Dynamos have been smooth sailing.
Bosso’s 3-2 loss to Monomotapa, having taken an early 2-0 lead, in the Mbada Diamonds last week only, laid bare the problems in their camp.
On current form, many will tip Dynamos to come out with maximum points on Sunday. More crucially, recent history between the two sides favours the home team in this fixture.
In the 13 meetings the two sides have had in the Premier League since 2006, Highlanders have just won twice against Dynamos’ six wins.
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In fact, Bosso have not beaten Dynamos since their trailblazing squad of 2006 when they completed a double on their rivals, winning 2-0 and 1-0 on their way to winning the championship under Methembe Ndlovu. Since then, Dynamos have had the upper hand.
In 2007, when Dynamos wrestled the title from Highlanders, the Harare giants won 2-1 in Bulawayo and drew 0-0 at Rufaro.
The following year, the two contests between them ended in 1-1 draws.
Dynamos showed no mercy on Bosso the following year, walloping them 4-0 at Rufaro, in Elvis Chiweshe’s first game in charge of the Harare giants, and 1-0 at Barbourfields. That trend followed the next year when the Harare giants won the two fixtures. This time they won 3-0 in Bulawayo and 1-0 in Harare.
On the road to claim the championship last year, Dynamos drew the first leg in Bulawayo before beating their rivals 3-1 at Rufaro. This year the two teams shared spoils in the first leg which ended in a 1-1 draw at Barbourfields. In the period under review, Dynamos have scored 15 goals against Highlanders’ six. Erick Mudzingwa is the only Highlanders player in their current squad who has tasted a league win against Dynamos playing for the Bulawayo giants.
