Ng’ambi steers Stars to CAF tourney group stage

Flames midfielder Robert Ng’ambi on Sunday scored a vital goal for his South African club Platinum Stars as they beat Ivory Coast side AS Tanda 2-0 to qualify for the group stages of the Confederation Cup.

After going down 2-0 in the first leg, Platinum pulled through in spectacular fashion to hit back by the same margin to ensure their tie finished 2-2 on aggregate, before going on to win 5-4 on post-match penalties.

 Benson Shilongo drew first blood for the South African side in the 28th minute made no mistake from the spot before Ng’ambi netted the priceless goal with 12 minutes to fulltime to force a penalty shoot-out.

And in the resultant penalty-shootout,  Dikwena came out triumphant with a 5-4 victory after AS Tanda missed their vital effort in the sudden death.

In an interview through WhatsApp, Ng’ambi said he was happy to contribute towards his team’s victory.

“But credit should go to the entire team, we all worked hard for this. We fought as a team and we are happy to be in the group stages,” he said.

However, it was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Malawian players as Frank ‘Gabadinho’ Mhango’s side Bidvest Wits were shown the exit door by Egyptian side Smouha following a 1-0 aggregate loss.

The first game ended goalless while the Egyptian side won the return leg 1-0 on Saturday. n