Caps United in cruise control

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Rodwell Chinyengetere celebrates after scoring a second goal for Caps United at the Castle Premier League against Black Rhinos at the National Sport Stadium

CAPS UNITED . . . . . . . (1) 2

BLACK RHINOS . . . . . . . . .0

Title hopefuls Caps United moved to the summit of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League table after sweeping aside Black Rhinos with a routine victory at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

A 34th minute penalty converted by last term’s Golden Boot winner William Manondo to open his season account, and Rodwell Chinyengetere’s second half header secured a third victory for the Green Machine in their fourth match of the campaign.

With the victory, the Lloyd Chitembwe-coached side move to the top of the log with 10 points, dislodging city rivals Dynamos who play against Cranborne Bullets on Monday.

Rhinos’ second defeat in four matches saw them drop to 13th position with four points. The army side could even drop further by the end of the Easter weekend league fixture programme.

Chitembwe expressed joy about how his team went about their business yesterday where they looked comfortable throughout.

“It was a decent performance from the team and I’m extremely happy with the way we did manage the game. We really did control the game from the onset up until the last minutes of the game. We were never in trouble the entire 90 minutes,” he said.

“As a coach I want to congratulate the players and the Caps supporters, they deserve the win. Last season, they went through terrible times so I’m happy to see them having these good moments.”

He said it was too early to celebrate being on top of the log table.

“It’s not about being on top of the log, we have only played four games. It’s not about what position we are at in the moment. We are very experienced in this career to understand that it's not the start that is important but how you finish,” the Green machine mentor noted.

“We started well but it is the finish that will be very important. This can only give us a good belief in what we are doing but at the end of the day I believe there is still a lot of football still to be played.”

Rhinos offered very little in yesterday’s match and looked to struggle to deal with setpieces, something that left coach Stanford “Stix” Mutizwa irked.

“We lost the match when they were awarded a penalty. What we had planned went astray because our game plan was to frustrate them and prevent them from stringing five or more passes between themselves,” he said.

“In the second half my boys tried and played very well but we again conceded from a set piece, which was from a corner kick. It was slack marking in defence. Even for the penalty, we didn’t mark well. Our two central defenders were not positioned well when the ball was put through. That could have been avoided. We are going back to the drawing board and make sure those grey areas are amended.”

Asked to comment on the penalty incident when referee adjudged that goalkeeper Onismo Matava had impeded Manondo, Stix said: “I think it was a soft penalty because our keeper didn’t touch him.”

Rhinos won their first match against Cranborne Bullets and lost to Highlanders in the second. They were held by Bulawayo Chiefs last week before yesterday’s second defeat of their new campaign.

“My boys are still learning the ropes, and I'm happy that they are copying. It's only those mistakes from set pieces and slack marking at the back that remains a worry but we are going to make sure that in future we will not make similar mistakes,” Stix said.

Teams:

Black Rhinos: O Matava, S Mudzengerere, V Katsande, T Mchisa, D Mbewe (N Gezana, 63’), N Mwasanga (M Svinurai, 73’), B Mukucha, P Gweva (A Gahadzikwa, 50’), D Mutimuzunze, G Dematsika (S Chikwerengwe, 63’), K Chiripawako (K Milanzi, 50’)

Caps United: T Mateyaunga, G Murwira, I Zambezi, P Musaka, K Madzongwe, D Chafa, B Sarupinda (J Ngodzo, 59’), R Chinyengetere (A Silla, 66’), P Bamusi (H Chapusha, 75’), J Tulani, W Manondo

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