Civo bang Wanderers in a thrilling game

By Antony Isaiah Jr:….

The Proud of Lilongwe, rampant Civo Service United have swept away Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ hope for top three after ruthlessly shredding them in a 7-goal thriller at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

An early own goal from Stanley Sanudi was followed by Innocent Tanganyika’s volley within the first 6 minutes.

It was a bad day for Stanley Sanudi who until the introduction of Ahamadu Kung’unde- which allowed him to squeeze up into the offensive zone.

Sanudi made an effort to play a back-pass to his goalkeeper, Piliran Mapira but it was an arbitrary pass as he did not realise the position of his goalkeeper, and the ball swiveled into the net after 50 seconds from the kick-off.

Innocent Tanganyika ransack a beautiful goal after Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ defence got paralysed- the veteran received the ball from Moses Banda and he just volleyed it into the net to make it 2-0 for the visitors.

Vincent Nyangulu tugged one back in the 10th minute after receiving a ball from Wisdom Mpinganjira and Felix Zulu wrecked the scores with an elegant strike 10 minutes later. Isaac Kaliati found the midfielder in the penalty box and he kept a shot from the locker that clattered the cross bar before the goalkeeper parried it into his own net.

Shasimbiwe Kanyika divested Stanley Sanudi off the ball before mailing a heavy shot into the back of the net just before half-time.

In the second half, Civo thickened the lead in 53rd minute. Miracle Gabeya failed to deal with Kung’unde’s pass and the ball went straight on to the feet of Tanganyika who beat two defenders, Miracle Gabeya and Stanley Sanudi before finding Kumwembe. The striker just slotted the ball to Tanganyika who bobbed the ball into the net, in skepticism of the Nomads that were in the house.

Wanderers made double substitution as Wisdom Mpinganjira and Misheck Botoman paved away for Vitumbiko Kumbwenda And Ahamadu Kang’unde

The changes upped the game and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers started pressuring the visitors in their search for the goals.

Again, Alex Ngwira made another double changes as he threw Francis Mkonda and Chiukepo Msowoya for
Felix Zulu and Muhammad Sulumba.

Vitumbiko Kumwenda had a hammer and beautiful goal in the 83rd minute. It was a tasty strike from distance and the goalkeeper, Tione Tembo had no chance.

Chiukepo Msowoya nearly grabbed the equalising goal after a thunderbolt from 30 metres but Tione Tembo denied him from registering his first goal after two months.

Wanderers miss third place

A defeat to Civo Service United have swept away Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ hope for finishing in top three as their maximum points have been reduced from 59 to 56.

Despite losing to Ekwendeni Hammers, Kamuzu Barracks have sealed their third spot where they have been fretting for- they have synopsize their season with 57 points.

Alex Ngwira has been piping the song that they needed to finish the league on second position but their hope has flooded away.

This is their nastiest position in the past 5 years as their most guiltiest position was back in 2016 when they finished 6th. They finished 3rd twice in 2020 and 2021, 2nd in 2018, Champions in 2017.

Wanderers suffer third successive defeat

This is the third successive defeat for the Lali Luban based team after losing to Blue Eagles and Moyale Barracks.

They were beaten by Blue 1-0 away from home through Rapson Richard’s delicious finish in a game that they swept the hope for second finish in the league.

This is their worst run of form this season since back-to-back defeats to Silver Strikers and Kamuzu Barracks.

Their fielding seems be going against their hopes. In their recent games, Alex Ngwira has been depending on a back-three formation which is not working for the team.

In a game against Blue Eagles, they had more gaps at the back and the opposition could capitalise on the gaps to tame them. Same to the game against Civo, having a big distance between the back-three defenders could allow Tanganyika, Kumwembe and Kanyika to invade them.

Mistakes made by the defender, Stanley Sanudi was out of pressure from the Servants who were pressing hard on to Mighty Mukuru Wanderers in their won zone.