Chicken Inn . . . . . . . . . (1) 2 Mutare City . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
CASTLE Lager Premier Soccer League champions Chicken Inn scored a goal in each half to compound Mutare City’s relegation woes in a match played at White City Stadium yesterday.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
Central defender Lawrence Mhlanga climbed higher than everyone else to plant in a header for the first goal after 21 minutes following a cross by Divine Lunga.
Substitute Ismael Lawe then got the second nine minutes before the final whistle after he was sent through by evergreen veteran midfielder Clemence Matawu following an exchange with Passmore Bernard, who had a good game yesterday.
With the win, Chicken Inn moved their points tally to 35 from 24 matches, which left coach Rahman Gumbo a relieved man following their losses in the two matches preceding this one.
“We lost in the past two games and we had to change the team and left out all the strikers that were misfiring,” he said. “I am relieved. The attitude was positive in this game and that has been lacking in the past.”
Matawu and anchorman Thabani Goredema dominated the midfield with the former having a field day providing a clean supply which, with better finishing, could have been better rewarded.
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Mutare City stayed on 20 points, just one above the relegation zone, but despite the setback yesterday, coach Taku Shariwa expressed confidence his side would beat the drop.
“We did not impose ourselves as much as we expected especially after Tsholotsho lost to Dynamos yesterday (Wednesday). Congratulations to Chicken Inn, they got their chances and scored catching us on the break for the second goal when we had committed most of our players in attack,” Shariwa said.
Their best chance came in the 76th minute, but skipper Chasten Ngondonga’s header hit the side net from a Munyaradzi Sako throw-in on the left.
