Africa-Press – Tanzania. YOUNG Africans delayed Simba’s Premier League championship party following their 1-0 win in a tense encounter at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
If Simba had won yesterday’s derby, they could have easily grabbed the league throne with unassailable 76 that no other team, including their closest challengers Yanga, could attain.
The victory earned Yanga 70 points from 32-game outings. Yanga’s closest pursuer are Azam who are parading 64 points behind after playing 32 matches.
Yanga were the first to open goal account in the 11th minute through Zawadi Mauya and the goal remained unanswered till the end.
The holding midfielder netted the winner with a 30-metre powerful drive that beat goalie Aishi Manula after deflecting defender Shomari Kapombe. Tension was all over in the match as each team played a cautious game.
Yanga managed to hold Simba in most of the first half because they controlled the midfield section which most often has been Simba’s area of plotting attacks.
The move frustrated Simba’s attacking machinery as the move didn’t give Clatous Chama, Bernard Morrison, John Bocco and Luis Miquissone an opportunity to create scoring chances.
No more goal was scored until the end of the first half despite both teams fighting hard to find a goal. Simba started the second half strongly trying to pin Yanga at their goal, but their pressure lasted only three minutes when Yanga regained composure. Early in the second half, Larry Bwalya came in for Erasto Nyoni.
Yanga’s Yacouba Soigne narrowly missed to double the lead in the 49th minute when his feeble shot was easily collected by Aishi Manula.
Simba responded strongly three minutes later, but Morrison shot a few inches off target Yanga’s goalie Faroukh Shikalo denied Larry Balya an equalizer when he punched his tricky shot to an abortive corner in the 77th minute.
Simba missed three clear chances in the dying minutes when Meddie Kagere, Larry Bwalya and Chris Mugalu saw their curled shots going above the goal.
Prior to yesterday’s meeting, according to the head to head statistics between Simba and Yanga from 1965, out of 105 games played, Simba won 31 against 37 wins recorded by Yanga.
There have been 37 draws with Yanga losing 31 matches versus 37 losses by Simba. In terms of scored goals, Yanga had netted 150 goals against 136 converted by the Reds.
Moreover, Simba had conceded 150 goals against 136 conceded by their opponents with 32 clean sheets by Simba against 43 stamped by Yanga.
However, the two sides will meet again in the Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) finals at Lake Tanganyika Stadium in Kigoma on July 25th in another heavyweight clash.
Simba, who are ASFC defending champions will be trying to retain it for the second successive time in front of their long time traditional rivals hence it still remain a big puzzle to solve on which side will lift the silverware at the end of 90 minutes.
Both teams stamped a narrow 1-0 win in their semifinals encounter to book a ticket of facing each other in the finals with Yanga defeating Biashara United at Ali Hassan Mwinyi Stadium in Tabora while Simba stunned Azam at Majimaji Stadium in Songea.
This will be the first time for the Kariakoo based clubs to meet in the ASFC finals whose winner earns an opportunity to represent the country in CAF Confederation Cup duels.
