Kangwanda, Nzengeli fire Yanga to league summit

Dar es Salaam. Defending champions Young Africans (Yanga) made a powerful statement in their title defence yesterday, crushing Coastal Union 4-1 at the KMC Complex to move to the top of the NBC Premier League standings.

The Jangwani Street giants produced an attacking display to secure their second consecutive victory of the season, taking their tally to six points from two matches.

Albert Kangwanda opened the scoring in the 38th minute, finishing a well constructed move after receiving a good pass from Shadrack Boka.

Yanga continued to dominate proceedings and doubled their advantage just before halftime when Maxi Nzengeli struck in the 45th minute following a fine assist from Houssein Zakouani.

The two goal advantage gave Yanga control of the match and they continued their aggressive approach after the restart.

Mudathir Yahaya added the third goal in the 50th minute after being set up by Kouassi Yao, putting Yanga firmly in command.

Coastal Union, however, managed to reduce the deficit in the 77th minute when Gradi Kiala's free kick took a deflection off Boka before beating Yanga goalkeeper Djigui Diarra.

Any hopes of a Coastal Union comeback were dealt a major blow in the same minute when Geoffrey Manyasi was shown a straight red card for a foul on Duke Abuya, leaving the Tanga side with 10 players.

Yanga took advantage of the numerical superiority and continued pushing forward in search of another goal.

Their persistence was rewarded in the second minute of stoppage time when Mohamed “Tshabalala” Hussein scored Yanga's fourth goal to complete a convincing victory.

The result means Yanga have collected maximum points from their opening two league matches and currently sit at the top of the standings on six points.

The champions have scored seven goals in their opening two matches, having started their campaign with a 3-1 victory over Namungo FC.

Their latest victory also gives them a goal difference of plus five, strengthening their early position at the summit as other teams continue their opening fixtures.

For coach Manqoba Mngqithi, the performance provides another positive sign as he builds a team capable of defending Yanga's league crown.

Kangwanda and Nzengeli's goals, combined with Yahaya's contribution and Tshabalala's late strike, demonstrated Yanga's attacking depth, while the team's ability to create chances from different areas of the pitch was another encouraging feature.

Yanga will now turn their attention to their next league assignment as they seek to maintain their perfect start and early advantage over their title rivals.

The emphatic victory also sends an early warning to the rest of the league that the defending champions remain determined to retain their crown.