VIDEO: Yanga in a fix after Zanaco draw. Full Time 1-1
Young Africans put themselves in a tight spot after being held to a 1-1 draw by Zanaco of Zambia in their African Champions League first round, first leg match at the National Stadium yesterday.
Simon Msuva gave Yanga the lead in the 39th minute, but the home team could not protect the goal as Attram Kwame scored a crucial away goal in the 78th minute.
The result puts Yanga in a tight corner as they must win or draw at least 2-2 in Lusaka if they are to advance to the group stage of the continent’s topflight club championship.
The two sides last met in 2006 in the same competition and Yanga won at home 2-1 before going to lose 2-0 in Lusaka.
But the Yanga technical bench led by Zambian George Lwandamina has preferred to see positives in the result insisting that they can defy the odds after a fortnight in Lusaka.
“We are disappointed by the result, but we will take positives and regroup for the second leg decider,” assistant head coach Juma Mwambusi said.
Yanga kicked off the match with a clear intent of winning, but they did not seem to give Zanaco a hard time for the first 30 minutes of the game.
Msuva, Donald Ngoma, Justin Zulu and Obrey Chirwa had half chances, but the Zanaco defence rose to the challenge every time dangerous crosses came from the flanks.
However, it took individual brilliance from Msuva who received a pass from Zulu before twisting around the Zanaco backs to slot the ball home.
Lwandamina will, however, rue giving Ngoma a starting role as the Zimbabwean striker seemed to have aggravated his injury right from the 10th minute. He was later called off.
After the goal, Zanaco responded with several abortive attacks, but Yanga could have tripled their advantage before the breather had it not been for profligacy.
Zanaco changed their defensive approach in the second half and managed to minimise Yanga attacks.
The visitors dictated the pace of the game as minutes ticked by and their efforts paid off with 12 minutes remaining.
Yanga paid the price for believing that Zanaco would have observed the fair play rule after Obrey Chirwa was on the ground languishing in pain. The Ghanaian striker did not care and smashed the ball for the equaliser.
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