THE Zimbabwean crew at Kaizer Chiefs moved closer to a South African double after defeating second tier United FC 2-1 to book a place in the Nedbank final.
Zimbabweans Abroad with Henry Mhara
Amakhosi, as Chiefs are known, have one hand on the Absa Premiership title as they are three points clear at the top of the log table with two rounds of games left to play.
Chiefs are home to four Warriors players Willard “Chips” Katsande, Lincoln Zvasiya, Mathew Rusike and Kingston Nkhata.
Katsande and Zvasiya started and finished the match for Amakhosi, while Nkhata was a 79th minute substitute. Rusike was on the bench.
Lehlohonolo Majoro and George Lebese scored for Chiefs while Walter Maponyane converted an 81st minute penalty for United FC to create a tense finish to the match. The Nedbank Cup is the richest club competition on the African continent with a seven million rand purse and a ticket to the Caf Confederations Cup next season.
Platinum Stars, who are second-placed in the league, could be Chiefs’ May 25 cup final opponents as they host title holders SuperSport United tomorrow in the other semi-final.
Former Warriors defender Dickson Choto also looks set to grace the medal podium at the end of the season as his side Legia Warszawa moved close to the Ekstraklasa title with a 1-0 win over Lechia Gdansk to remain on top of the log table in the Polish league.
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That title will come with a Uefa Champions league ticket next season. However, it looks like the 32-year-old Choto will not be part of Warszawa squad as he has struggled to get into the team’s final squad, having played just 80 minutes in the 25 matches that his club has played this season.
Choto did not make the final squad this weekend.
Still in the Ekstraklasa, Costa Nhamoinesu played the whole match for his eighth-placed side Zaglebie Lubin who are vying for the Uefa Europa League spot.
Lubin drew 1-1 away to relegation threatened TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala, a result that severely dented Nhamoinesu’s chances of Europa football next season. They are six points behind the two teams occupying the sought-after spot, with five games left before the Ekstraklasa season comes to an end.
Another Zimbabwean vying for Europe’s second largest club cup competition is Mike Temwanjira whose club Vaslui is sixth on the Romanian league, two rungs below the desirable spot.
But just like Nhamoinesu’s club Lubin, Vaslui also dented their chances after they were beaten 1-0 by Universitatea Cluj with Temwanjira, who scored a winning goal last week, rewarded for the effort with a 90-minute appearance this weekend. Knowledge Musona played the last 13 minutes as his side Augsburg fell 2-0 to Freiburg in the German Bundesliga.
The Warriors striker has been struggling to get into the final 18, and currently occupies the play-off spot with two last matches against champions Bayern Munich and basement Greuther Furth still to play.
In Vietnam, Justice Majabvi played the whole match for his rebranded club Hai Phong known as Khanh Hoa last season.
The Hai Phong-based club has made a great start to the season as they are currently on third on the log standings after seven games and have a game in hand.
Quincy Antipas did not score this week, but played the whole match to help his Danish side Brondby earn a valuable point that kept them out of the relegation zone. Archford Gutu started for Kalmar FF in the Swedish top flight league for the second week running in his team’s 0-0 home draw against Atvidaberg.
