Dynamos………..0
Caps United…..(0)1
What does Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa have to say about this one?
By Kevin Mapasure
At a time they needed to make the most of one of their two games in hand, DeMbare faltered again and leave the referees out of this one, Dynamos were just outplayed by a hungrier Caps United side.
Maybe this is why Chiyangwa tried hard to make sure Christian Ntouba was available following his deserved red card against Highlanders last week. DeMbare were toothless without him.
They missed him dearly. Football is a team sport, but one man makes a big difference. Dominic Chungwa missed the first edition of the Harare derby two weeks ago and Caps United missed his force upfront.
Yesterday, he was available and made the difference with a goal.
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Ntouba decided the previous match and his absence was telling yesterday for Lloyd Mutasa’s side, who have dropped five points in the last two matches.
DeMbare looked feeble and fretful without Ntouba’s imposing presence and Caps took full advantage.
Ntouba aside, Dynamos were just not in it. They didn’t want it as much as Caps did, yet it’s them who needed the points more than their nemesis.
Caps were hungry and hunted for everything.
DeMbare looked jaded and were lackluster and labouring in their approach.
In the end, Dynamos barely deserved anything from this match and if they are going to win this title, a lot needs to change.
This was quite an exciting derby, full of fire and a flurry of goal-mouth action. Football is a funny little game.
Two weeks ago, Dynamos dominated Caps United from start to finish. Yesterday, Caps United took grip of the match from the start and never let go.
Their goal in the 69th minute carried a sense of inevitability about it. They could have been out of sight by half time, but a number of missed chances and some good goalkeeping by Tonderai Mateyaunga kept DeMbare in the match. He was called on to make an acrobatic save on the 28th minute after Moses Muchenje let loose from outside the box. Before that he must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when Phineas Bamusi, set up by John Zhuwao, lofted the ball very high and over the bar.
Caps United were swarming and Dynamos were failing to get to grips with the Green Machine’s pressure.
It took DeMbare 13 minutes to test the Caps United defence, but the crossing was poor.
DeMbare improved as the game progressed. They had chances of their own and confusion between defender Stephen Makatuka and goalkeeper Jorum Muchambo almost gifted Dynamos the lead, only for a scrambling Godwin Goriati to hook the ball from the line.
Dynamos captain Ocean Mushure tried to use his experience when he motored into the Caps United penalty box towards the byline, dragged the ball back to the penalty spot, only for Cleopas Kapupurika to lift the ball high into the sky and out of play minutes before the break.
Quality Kangadze also missed the target from an acute angle.
In the second half, Kudzi Nyamupfukudza, who had a good game at right-back for Caps, had a speculative shot pushed out by an alert Matenyaunga.
At the other end, Kapupurika released a stinging shot that had Muchambo scrambling.
On the 69th minute the deadlock was finally broken.
It was a long ball and Chungwa applied pressure on Jimmy Kanono, who had just been introduced for an injured Obey Mwerahari.
Sensing danger, Mateyaunga left his line, but could not make contact with the ball, leaving Chungwa free to roll the ball in and spark celebrations in the bay housing the Caps United supporters.
Dynamos never looked like they could come back from this one. It is Caps who looked the more likely to get the next goal.
Chungwa turned Kanono inside out, but Muchenje, who controlled the midfield well for Caps, made a mess in the box. The Dynamos supporters started deserting the Vietnam stand well before the final whistle was blown. There was little hope, if any at all.
DeMbare will be counting the costs of this match. They could have been on top of the log by end of day yesterday, but they stay where they were before, albeit with another game gone.
