Yanga lauded after Ruvu Shooting win

Dar es Salaam. Young Africans assistant coach Juma Mwambusi showered praise on his team for a 2-0 victory over Ruvu Shooting at the National Stadium yesterday.

Yanga, who slumped to a 2-1 loss at the hands of leaders Simba SC on Saturday, have now moved to within two points of their conquerors.

Red-hot Simon Msuva and Emmanuel Martin scored for the Jangwani Street side to ensure they bridged the five-point gap.

Simba enjoy at the summit of the table with 54 points followed by Yanga, who are also the defending champions, with 52. They have both played 23 matches.

Speaking during a post-match conference, Mwambusi applauded the team for a spirited fight despite playing with 10 men for the entire second half.

Zambian hotshot Obrey Chirwa picked two yellow cards in the first half and was shown the marching orders with seconds to the breather.

Mwambusi, who opted to take reporters’ questions instead of head coach George Lwandamina, said the team played as a unit unlike on Saturday when they disappointingly lost to 10-men Simba.

“It was imperative for us to respond in this manner. The players did a great job and we are back in contention for the title,” said the former Mbeya City coach.

“However, we’re disappointed by the referee’s decision to rule out Chirwa’s goal and instead show him a yellow card. We were denied a clear goal and had to deal with the prospects of playing with 10 players.”

The outspoken coach said they were now shifting focus on the Sunday when they visit Mtibwa Sugar at Jamhuri Stadium.

“We have the three points we wanted, so now we will shift our focus on the Morogoro match. It’s a difficult match, but we will come up with an apt strategy to beat them,” he said.

For his part, Ruvu Shooting coach Exsevia Owen conceded defeat, admitting that his players lacked confidence playing the star-studded defending champions.

“We could have won this match had our players played more confidently. They lacked this aspect and Yanga used their experience to punish us,” he said.

Yanga kicked off the match on a high tempo, missing several chances inside the first 10 minutes with the culprits being Hassan Kessy, Chirwa and Msuva.

After a frenetic half an hour, Yanga took the lead from a spot kick, which was slotted calmly by Msuva following Damas Makwaya’s handball.

The visitors fought back, but they lacked the nous to unsettle the Yanga defence manned by captain Nadir Haroub.

With a one-man advantage, Ruvu Shooting hoped to score in the second half, but the Yanga defence was watertight; instead the home side doubled their advantage in the stoppage time.