Same old drab derby
The Blantyre derby between Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets ended goalless yesterday at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
It was the eighth draw in 11 meetings between the two teams since 2017.
However, the Nomads should blame themselves for missing a golden chance.
As hosts, Wanderers dominated both halves, commanding the defence and midfield, but their strikers fired blanks.
Nomads coach Mark Harrison started with Vincent Nyangulu upfront, but he was substituted in the second half for their top scorer Christopher Kumwembe. Later, Vitumbuko Kumwenda paved the way for Francis Mkonda, but the move did not pay dividends.
Bullets, who drew 0-0 last week with Kamuzu Barracks tried to come into the game in the second half when Anthony Mfune and Chawanangwa Gumbo came in for Hassan Kajoke and John Lanjesi respectively.
In a post-match interview, Harrison said he was impressed with his boys for playing according to the game plan.
“We had a better game. We managed to contain the pressure, but our problem was scoring. We will work on that as we are facing Silver Strikers next week,” he said.
Bullets coach Kallisto Pasuwa admitted that his boys struggled.
“It was not working for us, losing the ball in transition and always second on the ball. We had those changes like bringing in Precious Sambani in the midfield because of some injuries we have in our camp,” he said.
Bullets lie second with 22 points from 11 games while the Nomads are third with 19 points from the same games.
Last year, Bullets beat Wanderers 2-1 in the first round and drew 3-3 in the second round at the same Stadium.
In other matches, Super League leaders Silver Strikers FC were held to a goalless draw by Chitipa United at Civo Stadium.
Fans witnessed a bizarre scene as a fan jumped the fence, entered the pitch and headed for Chitipa United goal.
He bent down and poured some liquid across the goal. The whole incident lasted about two minutes.
In Balaka, Red Lions beat Karonga United 2-1 while Extreme United’s woes continued after losing 2-0 to Moyale FC.
Extreme lie at the bottom of the table with five points. Red Lions are second bottom with eight points.n
—Additional reporting Singayazi Kaminjolo
