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NewsDay

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Caps United bank on imperious defence

Sport
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe is banking on his team’s imperious defence in their bid to retain the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title.

CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe is banking on his team’s imperious defence in their bid to retain the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title.

BY HENRY MHARA

Lloyd Chitembwe
Lloyd Chitembwe

The Green Machine recorded their first victory of the season on Sunday at the National Sports Stadium with a 2-1 win over Harare City, which they achieved despite playing part of the second half a man short following the dismissal of midfielder Joel Ngodzo, who was given a straight red card for a dangerous foul.

Ngodzo got his marching orders for a studs-up challenge on James Jam in the 72nd minute when his side was leading 1-nil courtesy of a Tafadzwa Rusike goal before Jerry Chipangura levelled things moments later.

Ronald Pfumbidzai scored the winner with six minutes remaining and Caps United had to show resilience at the back in the final minutes to preserve their lead against a City side that threw everything at them.

Chitembwe said his side showed the character of true champions by holding on to win and then praised his defence for a job well done in shutting out their opponents.

“Mark my words, by the end of the season this team would have conceded the least number of goals in the league. Remind me at the end of the season,” Chitembwe said.

Caps United conceded 21 goals last season on their way to win the league and had the third best defence behind FC Platinum and Chicken Inn, who conceded 15 and 20 respectively.

Sunday Chidzambwa’s ZPC Kariba also conceded 21 goals. United had the best attack, scoring 42 goals, one better than Highlanders, who finished the season third.

Chipangura’s goal was the first that Caps United had conceded in their last five matches stretching from last season.

Chitembwe admitted he was disappointed by the way Chipangura was afforded space to shoot, his effort taking a deflection to beat goalkeeper Jorum Muchambo, who was holding fort for the injured Edmore Sibanda.

As the ball went past Muchambo and nestled into the nets, Chitembwe slumped into his seat, with hands on his head.

“Each time you concede, obviously there is something that would have gone wrong (defensively), but at the end of the day I’m very happy with their contribution because they only let in one goal in the last five (league) games that we have played.”

The victory also ensured Caps United continued with their green patch at home, where they have not lost a league match since Chitembwe took over.

“It’s good to continue with the good work, but the challenge is still huge. We still have more than 15 games to play at home so the challenge we have is to continue doing well at home. But it’s not going to be easy,” he said.