Yanga, Azam share spoils

JOHN Bocco’s late strike rescued a point for Azam FC as they forced a 2-2 draw against leaders Young Africans in the mouthwatering Mainland Premier League clash at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

Yanga’s Juma Abdul scored an own goal before he levelled the score and Zimbabwean striker, Donald Ngoma, hit the second for Yanga in the first half.
As predicted, it was a see saw encounter but defending champions, Yanga were much into the limelight, with midfielder, Thabani Kamusoko controlling the tempo.
A solo move inside the box by Azam’s Ivory Coast striker, Kipre Tchetche, forced Abdul under pressure from Farid Musa, to pump the ball into his own net in the 11th minute.

After conceding, Yanga calmed their nerves and kept building their moves from the flanks, where Simon Msuva and Deus Kaseke were making incisive running and their deadly forays forced Azam defenders into making mistakes.
It came as a no surprise when Hans Van der Pluijm’s side hit back through the same player Abdul. The right wing back amended his mistakes, when his 25 yards thunderbolt in the 29th minute of the game took a slight deflection off a defender and swerved past goalkeeper, Aishi Manula. Abdul pounced on a rebound ball which was cleared by Azam defender following Amissi Tambwe’s shot inside the penalty box.
Eight minutes earlier, Abdul’s shot came close but his effort was denied by Manula, who parried it off and the rebound landed on Ngoma’s path but he shot off target.
After the miss the Zimbabwean striker Ngoma gave the defending champions the lead after scoring the second goal for his side connecting home Tambwe pass four minutes before the break. Initially, Tambwe ought to have scored but his shot was blocked by Manula and the Burundian reacted quickly to collect the rebound to set up Ngoma, who nodded it into the back of the net.
After the break, Yanga who showed intent to snatch three vital points came back strongly piling pressure on their opponents who seemed to be a bit relaxed despite being 2-1 down.
In the 59th minute, Azam coach, Stewart Hall, introduced former Yanga striker Didier Kavumbagu for Farid Musa and later brought in another former Yanga midfielder Frank Domayo for Himid Mao in the 68th minute.
The changes somewhat re-energized Azam, especially in the final third and in the 70th minute, the ‘ice cream makers’ registered an equalizer though Bocco, who calmly finished the job well done by Kavumbagu and Domayo.
The two combined well before Kavumbagu released a pass to the scorer, who controlled the ball in the box before releasing a shot which went past goalkeeper Ally Mustafa to make the score 2-2.
The result means Yanga are level on 47 points with Azam and they are still at the top of the league table but Yanga are top on goal difference advantage.
However, the result provides an opportunity for another Dar es Salaam giant Simba SC to go top of the table, if they win their match against Mbeya City at the same venue today. A win for Simba will see the Msimbazi Reds posting 48 points.
In other premier league matches held yesterday, Mtibwa Sugar thrashed Coastal Union 3-0 at the Manungu ground in Turiani, Morogoro, while stunning result came from JKT Ruvu, who edged 1-0 Mwadui FC at their home ground -- Mwadui Complex.
Tanzania Prisons beat Stand United 1-0 at Sokoine Memorial Stadium in Mbeya, while African Sports and Majimaji fought to a barren draw at the Mkwakwani Stadium in Tanga, same as Toto Africans and Ndanda FC at the CCM Kirumba Stadium in Mwanza.
Kagera Sugar were held to a 1-1 draw by Mgambo JKT.