By Ali Mwinyi,
A second half Khamis Mcha’s brace helped Tanzania’s Taifa Stars to a 2-2 draw by visitors Mozambique in a highly entertaining and explosive match played at the National Stadium in Dar Es Salaam.
In the first half both sides played cautiously perhaps trying to read the game plan of their opponents but the second half came to life with an avalanche of four goals that included two penalties in the last 27 minutes of the game .
The visitors took a quick lead upon resumption from the half time break as Elias Gaspar Palembe popularly known as Domingues broke the deadlock in the 47th minute from the penalty spot to give the Mamba’s the deserved lead however the goal did not dampen the spirits of the Tanzanians who fought relenltessly and in the 66th minute their hardwork paid off handsomely when Khamis Mcha restored parity with a clinical finish as they scores stood at 1-1.
Six minutes later the relenltess pressure from the Tanzanians paid dividends when the referee awarded them a penalty and Khamis Mcha stepped up to comfortably score his second of the day and to give Tanzania the deserved lead in a gruelling encounter.
From that point onwards it was wave after wave of attack from both sides as the Mambas showed more intent while the hosts pushed the marauding strikers back but it was not enough to stop the Mambas who equalized in the stroke of full time through Isaac to deny the Tanzanians an important win as they ensured they got two important away goals ahead of the return match in a fortnight.
