Kudakwashe Musharu notched a brace to raise his Caf Confederation Cup tally to five goals as How Mine thrashed St Michel United of Seychelles in the first leg first round of the tournament at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.
Fortune Mbele Sports Reporter
How Mine (1) . . . . . . . . . 5 St Michel (1) . . . . . . . . . 1
Musharu tapped the ball past St Michel veteran goalkeeper Nelson Sopha in the 20th minute after he was set up inside the box by Edmore Muzanenhamo.
On the stroke of 90 minutes, Musharu capitalised on his defence clearance from a St Michel goal-kick and outpaced the visitors’ defence before pushing the ball past Sopha to book his fifth goal of the competition.
St Michel had equalised in the 36th minute through a penalty by Jocelyn Fanosoa, who had been brought down inside the box by Nyasha Mukumbi.
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The match seemed to be headed for a draw as St Michel defended tooth and nail before How Mine head coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube used an ace up his sleeve bringing in Morris Kadzola, Timothy January and Wonder Sithole in the second half changing his game strategy to attacking football.
In the 59th minute, St Michel’s Jimmy Radafson was cautioned for a crude foul on January and from the resultant free-kick Muzanenhamo packed a powerful shot which Sopha spilled and an alert Thembani Masuku pounced on the rebound to score How Mine’s second goal in the 60th minute.
Kadzola then made it three in the 73rd minute in a goalmouth mêlée after Masuku had fired a stinger from a Musharu cross from the left.
In the 84th minute, How Mine earned a penalty after Kadzola was hacked down inside the box by Allen Lame and Botswana referee Joshua Bondo pointed to the spot.
Up stepped Menard Mupera to get How Mine’s fourth before Musharu banged in the fifth just before the final whistle.
Ncube rued several chances missed by How Mine in the first half and said he managed to rectify that in the second half.
“We missed several chances in the first half, but patience and experience worked for us. We rectified that in the dressing room when we made our changes and we got back into the game,” he said.
St Michel’s gaffer Ralph Jean-Louis said How Mine is a good team and the four-goal deficit will be difficult to overturn in Seychelles next weekend.
“We were beaten by a good side and we will be working on weaknesses back home.
“We lost concentration in the second half. It is going to be difficult, but in football nothing is impossible. Our boys were a bit tired because of our travel arrangements, but it was an administrative problem on our part,” Jean-Louis said, also blaming the thick and heavy Barbourfields Stadium turf.
Teams How Mine: E Mazarura, G Banda, B Dube, T Majo (M Kadzola 53rd minute), N Mukumbi, M Mupera, T Masuku, E Muzanenhamo, K Musharu, J Chitereki (T January 52nd minute), E Mandiranga (W Sithole 71st minute) St Michel: N Sopha, A Lame, J Radafson, E Olupot, A Nibourette, J Barbe, G Way-Hine (L Lorallie 56th minute), J Fanosoa (N Hoateau 89th minute), H Ali, N Laurance, Y Manoo (T Vidot 89th minute)
