YOUNG Africans Head Coach Luc Eymael said he was impressed with his side’s three wins in a row and a second successive clean sheet in the ongoing Vodacom Premier League (VPL).
Yanga registered a slim 1-0 win over Mtibwa Sugar on Sunday at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam with David Molinga scoring the only goal mid-way into the second half to enable his side claim crucial three points.
The victory saw Yanga climb up the league ladders from seventh slot to fourth with 31 points after 16 outings behind third placed Namungo FC, Azam and leaders Simba SC.
Up next, the Jangwani based side take on Lipuli FC tomorrow at the same venue in the city hoping to continue bagging maximum three points from the Iringa origin club which currently sits on the ninth place with 25 points from 18 matches.
“It was not the best Yanga today (Sunday) but the most important thing is three points since we played against a tough opponent who really played very well,” Eymael said at a postmatch briefing.
He added that his side had advantage to score two goals in the first half following misuse of one to one chances by Molinga and Patrick Sibomana.
“When you play against a team which is well organised, the most important thing is to score and open up the game but we were too soft in the first half and the speed of our game was low,” the Belgian said.
He continued: “The introduction of Ditram Nchimbi in the second half was a turning point for us since we managed to score the goal and we had also a couple of good chances to score at least three goals.”
Again, Eymael said he saw too many tackles from behind against his players a thing he said usually attract a yellow card but was not like that on the day.
“Players are human beings and their profession is football. When they are dangerously tackled, they can be injured and sometimes, the picked injuries can simply end their football careers,” said he.
The match winner Nchimbi disclosed that he was told to use the gaps left by Mtibwa Sugar defenders who he said were overwrapping a lot.
“I believe that the team will continue to do well since confidence in the squad is being restored,” said he.
On his part, Mtibwa Sugar coach Zuberi Katwila said they will sit down to re-collect some mistakes shown by his team ahead of their upcoming VPL games.
“We have another difficult match against Ruvu Shooting which requires us to be thoroughly prepared before facing them,” he said.
He lauded his players for applying well his tactics on the field even though their expectations were not fulfilled.
“If they played without following instructions, definitely, we could have conceded more goals but we tried to minimize the number of mistakes committed as the match unfolded,” Katwila said.
He further said tactically, the game was fifty-fifty only that their opponents used well one good chance they created after introducing another striker (Nchimbi) who operated from the flanks and provided the assist.
