Chicken Inn . . . . (0) 1 Harare City . . . . . (1) 1
Harare City surrendered two points to Chicken Inn after playing beautiful football in the first half and allowing the hosts to come back and settle for a draw in the second half in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) match at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
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The Sunshine Boys leapt to the top of the of the log standings on par with Dynamos on 41 points from 23 matches, grabbing a point from Chicken Inn. The champions are set to play their 23rd game this afternoon against struggling Monomotapa at Rufaro Stadium.
That leaves Highlanders chasing on 40 points with a chance to climb to the top as they take on Buffaloes at Sakubva Stadium today.
Nathan Ziwini scored a gem of a goal in the 21st minute to put the visitors ahead as they troubled Chicken Inn in the first half, but the hosts came back a rejuvenated side and levelled the scoreline in the 52nd minute through overlapping right-back Moses Jackson.
Harare City coach Bigboy Mawiwi believes the race was still wide open after the draw against Chicken Inn.
“We played very well, but conceding leaves a lot to be desired. When you give away a soft goal like that, you give the opposition the confidence. The race is still open, but we were supposed to win this one,” Mawiwi said.
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His counterpart at Chicken Inn, Mandla Mpofu, said they were still in the race for the championship with the GameCox having moved to the fifth spot with 36 points, with seven games remaining.
“It’s two points lost, but we are still competing. We played well in the first 15 minutes, but when we conceded our game went down.
“We were on top of the game in the second half and I believe fatigue could be the main reason for the bad performance in the second half, but that should not be an excuse. We still have 21 points to fight for and I think we are still in with a reach,” Mpofu said.
Leading scorer Tendai Ndoro, who returned from Absa South African side Mpumalanga Black Aces on loan to Chicken Inn and only trained on Friday, could have killed off the game to bang in his 11th in added time, but he narrowly missed the right upright with City goalkeeper Maxwell Nyamupangedengu a beaten man.
Teams Chicken Inn: N Nyoni, M Jackson, B Mbiriri, C Mutero, F Chindungwe, D Phiri, T Mukambi (L Mpofu 79th minute), C Matawu, C Nkomo, K Mahachi, T Ndoro Harare City: M Nyamupanedengu, M Nyenye, M Kunyarimwe, C Dickson, D Kutyaripo, J Jam, S Songani (O Mukuradare 87th minute), N Ziwini, W Manondo (M Vengesayi 62nd minute), T Nyamadzawo (C Muvuti 62nd minute), G Nguwodzawo
