Harare City, Chicken Inn share spoils

Sport
FORMER ZPC Kariba midfielder Pride Tafirenyika scored the equaliser, to cancel out Francesca Zekumbawire’s opener and helped defending champions Chicken Inn snatch a point away to Harare City in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Rufaro Stadium yesterday.

Harare City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0) 1 Chicken Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1

FORMER ZPC Kariba midfielder Pride Tafirenyika scored the equaliser, to cancel out Francesca Zekumbawire’s opener and helped defending champions Chicken Inn snatch a point away to Harare City in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Rufaro Stadium yesterday.

BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE

soccer

The draw means the visitors who continue to stutter in their title defence, failed to win since their emphatic 2-0 victory over city rivals Highlanders three matches ago as they occupy the bottom half on the log standings.

Harare City have themselves to blame for failing to take three points as they missed a glut of chances, with Elvis Chipezeze in inspired form between the goal posts.

In another controversial incident, referee Brighton Chideme waved play on to deny the hosts what looked like a penalty, when Munyaradzi Diro Nyenye was clearly hacked down by George Majika inside the box.

Harare City coach Moses Chunga was left to rue the missed chances in the second half.

“We had a good chance to collect maximum points in the second half. We might complain about the penalty, but we created good chances — even better than the penalty, so we should have buried those,” he said.

Rahman Gumbo, the visitors’ gaffer, was happy with a point away from home.

“I think it was a fair result, it was a match of two halves — we had our chances in the first half and then in the second they came back a better side,” he said.

“We could have wrapped the game in the first half, but I’m not complaining about a point away from home.”

Chicken Inn were by far the better side in the first half; they created lots of scoring opportunities and the best of them came as early as the fourth minute, but Thabani Goredema’s shot crashed against the cross bar.

In the second half the hosts caused all sorts of problems for Chicken Inn and were duly rewarded in the 52nd minute through Zekumbawire, who headed home after Chipezeze parried the ball onto his path.

Kudakwashe Kumwala and Martin Vengesai were denied by Chipezeze in quick succession soon after, as the Sunshine Boys sought to extend the lead.

Against the run of play, Tafirenyika brought the visitors back into the game in the 73rd minute getting to the end of substitute Ishmael Lawe’s cross.

Teams:

Harare City: M Nyamupanedengu, D Mawere, C Dickson, M. Diro-Nyenye, A Chiveya, R Chitiyo, L Muyambo, K Kumwala (B Maglas 76’), M Vengesai (J Chipangura 87’), J Jam, F Zekumbawire.

Chicken Inn: E Chipezeze, P Bernard, M Jackson, L Mhlanga, T. Goredema, C Samakwere, M Demera (I Lawe 61’), B Nyahunzvi, C Matawu, D Nyandoro (G Majika 52’ — B Juru 89’), P Tafirenyika