Simba roar downs Majimaji

Songea. Simba closed the gap on leaders Young Africans yesterday after beating Majimaji FC 3-0 at the Majimaji Stadium.

Simba, who were smarting from a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Azam FC, secured the three points, courtesy of Ibrahim Ajibu, Said Ndemla and Laudit Mavugo.

The victory takes the Msimbazi Street side to within a point of arch-rivals Yanga who mauled Stand United 4-0 on Friday.

They sit second with 48 points collected from 21 matches while Majimaji remain glued in the relegation zone with a paltry 20 points.

Majimaji, who pulled off a rare win against Ndanda FC last weekend, got the proceedings underway looking determined to snatch the points at stake.

Enjoying support from home fans, Majmaji created three good scoring chances in the first 10 minutes, but indecision and poor precision prevented them from taking a confortable early lead.

After 15 minutes, Simba took control of the match with some sublime swift passes and four minutes later, Ajibu headed home to give the visitors the lead.

Shiza Kichuya delivered a superb cross in the Majimaji box and Ajibu won the aerial battle to send hundreds of their fans celebrating wildly.

Selemani Kibuta went close to levelling the score midway through the first half with a magnificent volley, but Simba’s Ghanaian goalkeeper Daniel Agyei made a brave save to keep his side in the lead.

Kibuta had another half chance in the 39th minute, but his strike went off-target.

Simba went into the breather boasting a wafer-thin lead as Majimaji pondered how to come back into the game.

Majimaji started the second half brightly, but still found it difficult to beak the Simba defence.

Simba launched a counterattack in the 47th minute, but Ajibu lacked composure in the Majimaji box. He blasted over the crossbar.

Simba brought in Pastory Athanas for Juma Luizio in the 52nd minute and his impact was immediate as Simba poured forward with more pace.

However, Simba had to wait until the 68th minute to celebrate the second goal through Ndemla. He capitalised on a defensive mix-up to slot the ball into the net. After the goal, Simba looked more defensive, allowing Majimaji to attack.

Nonetheless, the visitors put the score beyond reach in the 88th minute via Burundian Mavugo.