Malawi’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) championships representatives Mighty Wanderers and Silver Strikers have started well in the tournament by registering a win and a draw, respectively.
Galaxy’s defender.
I Courtesy of Wanderers FC
Wanderers beat Botswana outfit Jwaneng Galaxy FC 1-0 in Lilongwe whereas Silver drew 1-1 away in Mauritius against Elgico Plus FC of Madagascar.
At Bingu National Stadium, it took Mighty Wanderers 80 minutes to find the back of the net and break the deadlock to beat Jwaneng Galaxy FC in their CAF Confederations Cup encounter.
Captain Felix Zulu rose up to the occasion to save his team with an indistinct finish inside the box.
He took advantage of the scramble in the box to evade the attention of defender Tebogo Kopelang to pick his spot past goalkeeper Victor James.
The hosts had curved a lot of chances to have enabled them to kill the game, but lack of composure plus poor marksmanship betrayed them for long periods.
Soon after the first stanza, Wanderers increased the intensity of their offensive by creating several chances, but again they were let down by their forwards until the 80th minute when Zulu scored.
Coach Bob Mpinganjira applauded the team for the win.
“It was a difficult game. We will be going into the return match with an advantage of a goal,” he said.
Galaxy coach Sean Connor described the game as tough.
He said: “The task of coming here was to make sure we were still in the tie when we go back.”
On the other hand, the Bankers came from a goal down to force a draw at Cote Do’r National Sports Complex in Mauritius in the CAF Champions League.
In an interview after the match, Silver Strikers coach Peter ‘Shoes’ Mgangira played down the vital away point his team earned against Malagasy side Elgeco Plus.
He said: “We will have to prepare thoroughly for the return leg and be focused so that we make good use of home ground advantage.”
The hosts took the lead in the 16th minute through Tonny Randriamanampisoa which originated from a corner.
The Lilongwe-based side trailed 1-0 at half time and in a bid to add fire-power, they made a double substitution, taking off Zebron Kalima and Binwell Katinji for Ernest Petrol and Andrew Joseph.
According to flashscore.com, it was a move that paid off as nine minutes after his introduction, Joseph swung upfield to head home a well-curled cross from Dan Sandukira.
