YOUNG Africans fired a warning to their traditional rivals Simba ahead of the Sunday’s Dar es Salaam derby with a convincing 2- 0 win over Mbao at the National Stadium yesterday.
It was Yanga’s third consecutive victory since the arrival of their Belgian Coach Luc Eymael who in dismay watched his team failing to stamp a victory in their four-match onslaught.
The Belgian tactician yesterday opted to rest his dependable striker Bernard Morrison and midfield maestro Haruna Niyonzima in a move football observers saw as the part of his plan to reserve the duo for the Sunday’s derby against rivals Simba.
Yanga kicked off the game in a high tempo and put their visitors’ goal under pressure in the first 15 minutes of the game, which, however saw them squandering four chances through Patrick Sibomana who returned to the first eleven after missing three games.
David Molinga was denied a goal after his header from Pappy Tshishimbi’s free kick hit the cross bar.
Despite dominating the game for most of the first half, It took Yanga until in the 2 8th minute to break the deadlock through Molinga who expertly fired home a penalty kick.
Referee Shomari Lawi awarded them a penalty after Feisal Salum was brought down inside the box.
Two minutes after conceding the goal, Mbao made their first serious attempt through Waziri Junior’s counterattack, but his shot outside the box went a few inches off target.
He once again knocked the door in the 33rd minute, but goalkeeper Farouk denied him for a corner kick.
Few minutes before the halftime, Sibomana missed a chance to double Yanga’s lead as his shot went off target.
In the second half Mbao made a change by introducing Emmanuel Charles for Babilas Chitembe, but no goal was scored.
In the 5 6th minute, Mrisho Ngasa was denied a chance to score after his long range shot outside the box was saved by goalkeeper Rahim Abdallah.
Yanga brought in Tariq Seif for Molinga and then Mapinduzi Balama came in for Mohamed Issa while Mbao introduced Jordan John for Robert Ndaki. After missing several chances, Sibomana added the second goal for Yanga in the 81st minute completing a Tariq Seif assist.
The third victory placed Yanga at the third position in the league log with 47 points from 2 4-game outings.
They have leapfrogged Namungo FC who have been pushed to the fourth position with 46 points after playing 2 4 games.
Yanga will go into the Sunday’s Dar es Salaam derby with 18 points behind their traditional rivals Simba who, tonight will face second-placed Azam at the National Stadium.
