Yanga march on as Biashara go down
Young Africans midfielder Jafari Mohamed (left) makes his way past Ruvu Shooting’s Zuberi Dabi during the Mainland Premier League match at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam yesterday. Yanga won 3-2. PHOTO | MICHAEL MATEMANGA
What you need to know:
- High-flying Young Africans, who laboured to beat Ruvu Shooting 3-2 at the National Stadium yesterday, top the Mainland Premier League with 44 points from 16 matches, four points ahead of their nearest challengers Azam FC
Dar ers Salaam/Mwanza. In-form Young Africans moved four points clear at the top of the Mainland Premier League with a 3-2 win over Ruvu Shooting at the National Stadium yesterday.
The closely-contested clash seemed destined to a 2-2 draw until deep into injury time when Heritier Makambo made it 3-2 for Yanga.
The hard-earned win means Yanga top the 20-team league with 44 points from 16 matches, four points ahead of second placed Azam FC.
In Mwanza, Alliance FC capitalised on a home ground advantage to beat Biashara United of Mara 2-0 in an exciting Premier League match at the Nyamagana Stadium.
The defeat means struggling Biashara remain at the bottom of the league table with 10 points from 17 matches.
Rejuvenated Alliance, on the other hand, now have 16 points after 17 games.
A first half of missed opportunities was soon forgotten after two second-half goals helped Alliance to the convincing home victory.
The resilience of the Mara side in yesterday’s clash was dealt with nine minutes into the second half when Sameer Vicent scored the match-opener.
Seven minutes after the hour mark, Chinedu Michael doubled the hosts’ lead with a sizzling shot.
Meanwhile, Mainland soccer giants Simba were expected to return home last night from Kitwe, Zambia, where they lost 2-1 to Nkana FC in the first round, first leg of the 2018/19 Caf Champions League on Saturday.
In the first half, Nkana outplayed Simba who had gone into the match armed with an 8-1 aggregate preliminary round win over Mbabane Swallows of eSwatini.
The hosts scored their goals through Ronald Kampamba and Kelvin Mubanga.
John Bocco pulled one back from the spot in 72nd minute.
The return leg is set for December 22 at the National Stadium and a 1-0 win for Simba will see them qualify to the group stage on away goals rule.
However, a draw for Nkana will suffice to see them qualify to the next stage of the money-spinning tournament.
In another development, Mtibwa Sugar, who succumbed a 3-0 defeat at the hands of KCCA in Kampala, Uganda in the Confederation Cup on Saturday, returned home yesterday.
