FAZ MTN SUPER LEAGUE WEEK ONE DONE
Lusaka Dynamos gives a glimpse of what we expect… As Nkana given a Reality Check
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WINNERS AND LOSERS
NAPSA 3-0 NCHANGA RANGERS
Chitiya Mususu became the first player this season to score a brace after NAPSA beat Nchanga Rangers 3-0 at Edwin Imboela to end the the first week jointly top with Green Buffaloes . Luka Banda opened the scoring for Napsa and Nchanga had no reply aagainst a NAPSA team coached by Tenant Chilumba who looks ready for the 2017 marathon of the league . Brilliant display by Chitiya who is one of the players to watch this season.
For Nchanga Rangers, its a quick reminder to Bruce the coach that there is something he didn’t do in the off season and given time to rush back to Chingola and find that problem before they start fighting relegation early on.
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GREEN BUFFALOES 3-0 MUFULIRA WANDERERS
Wayne Museba scored the first own goal of the season when he scored forced by former Mufulira Wanderers player Mike Katiba in a game Green Buffaloes dominated to win 3-0.
Katiba playing against his former team and the team he captained scored a second before Diamond Chikwewe put in a third to convincingly beat Mufulira Wanderers and lead the league table on the first day.
Mufulira Wanderers a team that has always started strong in the last two season were very poor on the day and showed that their biggest weakness is in the goal post. Generally the team doesn’t look any committed to fight for anything this season and with what was observed on the first day, Mighty will again struggle unless something fast is to happen.
One interesting part of this game was Mike celebrating against his former team which didn’t sit too well with mighty fans.
Is there a football rule stopping a player from celebrating against his former team or its a way of showing respect for your former team?
Was Mike wrong to celebrate?
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CITY OF LUSAKA 0-1 GREEN EAGLES
Green Eagles will end as one of the winners for the first week of the league and thanks to a penalty scored by Andrew Phiri early in the first half. Green Eagles were far from convincing in that 1-0 win and perhaps it’s the pressure of the first day in the league. But forget about form and poor play they have gotten the first three points and that is what will matter for now.
For City of Lusaka , the challenges leading to the team delaying in starting preparations for the season finally showed as they could only have two players on the bench due to registration issues . City of Lusaka will struggle this season not because Elijah Chikwanda doesn’t have a team but because the priorities were not put on the table after the team qualified. It took too long for this team to be assembled, they need a lot of time to hit the season running.
First loss for City and next stop is Shinde and that won’t be easy
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LUMWANA RADIANTS 1-0 FOREST RANGERS
Lumwana Radiants continued their dominance against Forest Rangers with a victory on the first day and get the three points to kick start the race for the title. Chiyesu Sakufunya , former Power Dynamos player scored the only goal of the game to give the home team the well deserved three points.
Forest Rangers will have to go back to Ndola and regroup to bounce back . This is a season were you don’t have to allow back to back defeats and hence Forest should brace themselves for a big encounter against Real Nakonde in the next fixture. Its now a must win game early on in the season. They are having a serious challenge to manage Lumwana Radiants and the loss was a third in a roll against Lumwana.
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DRAWS
We had a total of five draw games on the opening day with classic display and good games of football ! Some expected others shockers ….we are destined for a good season!!!
NKANA 1-1 NAKAMBALA LEOPARDS
That’s what happens when you convince yourself that you have won and waiting for the game to finish before its even played . Football is played on the pitch and not in the minds. Teams are fighting for points and we are yet to see strange results this season. That’s what I think happened to Nkana against Nakambala, the Kitwe giants could have possibly counted the three points before the game was played . Walter Bwalya scored early on for Nkana and Lameck Silwamba equalised for Nakambala to put pressure on Nkana.
Walter Bwalya missed a penalty and Nakambala stayed resolute at the back to force a valuable point away to Nkana on the first day. Two points dropped at home and one point gained on the road for the sugar boys.
With that draw, Nakambala will hope they build on that and have self belief for the 2017 season, they stay above Nkana on alphabetical order.
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KABWE WARRIORS 2-2 NKWAZI
Kabwe Warriors lost an advantage of the 2-0 lead to give up the three points and only get one in their first home game of the season against Nkwazi, a team that has been difficult for them to beat in the past. Clement Mwape and Nicholas Mulilo scored for the Kabwe outfit and thought they were through to the first three points but Nkwazi paged them back.
Kalaba Chikwanda pulled one back before Chipungu Musukuma equalised for the Police outfit to get a point away from home. Nkwazi refuse again to be beaten by Kabwe Warriors just as what happened in the 2016 season.
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REAL NAKONDE 0-0 BUILDCON
This was a game involving the new entrants to the super league and the first super league game played in Muchinga province . Safely to say the result is fair for the both teams and the teams now know what to expect for the season after testing the waters . No goals scored and this is the only game on the first day of the season without a goal.
Fair result
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ZANACO 1-1 RED ARROWS
The defending Champions started the defence of their title with a point when they went down via a Bruce MUSAKANYA goal early on in the first half and showed to say this will be another tough season. Ziyo Tembo equalised five minutes after the Bruce Musakanya goal to give real hope to the defending champions. Bronson Chama saw red for a bad tackle in the second half but Red Arrows stayed strong and in some instances looked a better side even with one man down.
It’s looking good for Red Arrows and fans will be hoping it’s a start of good things to come. For ZANACO they need to find someone to score goals so soon and with rumours of them getting Felix NYAENDE , it would do them well if that rumour is to be confirmed!!! They need another goal scorer.
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LUSAKA DYNAMOS 3-3 POWER DYNAMOS
For me without a doubt the game of the week and a glimpse of what we expect in the 2017 season. The pundits perhaps who have been saying Lusaka Dynamos could break into the top four could be right. There is something happening in that team. It’s not easy leading Power Dynamos 2-0 in the first half and with classic goals from Chrispin Mugalu and Clatous Chota Chama . It was a good game of football to watch.
But Power showed their experience in the second half as Godfrey Ngwenya pulled one back early on before Fwayo Tembo opened his account to equalise within a space of a minute after Ngwenya had scored for Power Dynamos.
Martin Phiri scored a third and it now looked like Power were headed for a victory until the Yellow family were silenced at the death of the game when Godfrey Chibangu equalised for the new look Lusaka Dynamos to share the points after a big game of football.
We are in for a good running…….
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POSTPONED
ZESCO UNITED VS KONKOLA BLADES
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MY STATISTICS FOR WEEK ONE
Number of Goals scored: 22 GOALS
BEST TEAM OF WEEK SIX FOR ME
POWER DYNAMOS
Keeping concentration even when you are down 2-0 and managing to score three goals is called discipline. Hence I will go for Power Dynamos even with that draw. The game wasn’t easy and Dan Kabwe Showed his tactical brains of football.
MOST IMPROVED
NAPSA
NAPSA beating Nchanga Rangers 3-0 is another big statement and Tenant Chilumba looks to be doing a good job and will get the most improved for me this week.
MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM
MUFULIRA WANDERERS
Will be my most disappointing team of the weekend, according to what I saw there should be a lot to do for Suleiman to bring that team back to the top.
FIGHTING RELEGATION
NCHANGA RANGERS
To early to pick but Nchanga gets my note as their position clearly states
BEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MOONGA NDALA (LUSAKA DYNAMOS)
Am going for the Lusaka Dynamos goal keeper who is responsible for the score remaining 3-3 for Lusaka Dynamos otherwise Power Dynamos threatened.
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MTN FAZ SUPER LEAGUE RESULTS FOR WEEK TWENTY RESULTS
Saturday, 8th April
1. City of Lusaka 0-1 Green Eagles
2. ZANACO 1-1 Red Arrows
3. Lumwana Radiants 1-0 Forest Rangers
4. Real Nakonde 0-0 Buildcon
5. Napsa 3-0 Nchanga Rangers
6. Nkana 1-1 Nakambala Leopards
7. Kabwe Warriors 2-2 Nkwazi
Sunday, April 9th
8. Green Buffaloes 3-0 Mufulira Wanderers
9. Lusaka Dynamos 3-3 Power Dynamos
POSTPONED
ZESCO United Vs Konkola Blades
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WEEK TWO PROSPECTS
1. Power Dynamos Vs NAPSA Stars
2. Nchanga Rangers Vs Nkana
3. Nkwazi Vs Lusaka Dynamos
4 . Buildcon Vs Kabwe Warriors
5. Konkola Blades Vs Green Buffaloes
6. Forest Rangers Vs Real Nakonde
7.Mufulira Wanderers Vs City of Lusaka
8. Red Arrows Vs Lumwana Radiants
9.Green Eagles Vs Zanaco
Postponed
Nakambala Leopards Vs Zesco United
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