FCB Nyasa Big Bullets head coach Kalisto Pasuwa provided his reaction following the defending champions’ 2-0 triumph over Kamuzu Barracks to reach the final of the Airtel Top 8 on Sunday at the Bingu National Stadium.
Ephraim Kondowe scored in the 7th minute before Blessings Mpokera’s 73rd freekick sealed the victory for The People’s Team to reach a fourth successive Airtel Top 8 final.
Speaking to the media in his post-match reaction, Pasuwa said Kondowe’s strike was the deciding factor, as it disturbed the Capital City soldiers, who couldn’t recover from the early upset despite starting well.
“They started very well by attacking our goal area, but the moment we scored, they were disturbed. Had it been, we hadn’t scored early, it could have been very difficult for us, but that goal gave us an edge over them, and we went on to win the game,” commented Pasuwa.
Sharing his thoughts about the match, the tactician said the opposition posed no threat as they kept on knocking the ball in their half instead of breaking into the final third.
“It was a very good run, but again, these teams are not coming at us the way we anticipated. They are playing in areas that are not dangerous. As you can see, they didn’t have any shot at goal, and mostly, they were playing away from the goal area, but again, I won’t take away anything from them, they played very well, very compact and at the time they threatened, my boys responded well by scoring early before scoring the winning goal in the second half. This is what we wanted, and we are into the final.
Our gaffer further commented on the upcoming fixtures. We face Mighty Tigers in the TNM Super League on Wednesday before travelling back to Lilongwe for the Airtel Top 8 final against Silver Strikers on Saturday.
“We are not also looking at the health of the players by just giving us fixtures for the sake of giving us games. We can’t be complaining about this arrangement. It is what it is, but I will always complain about the surfaces we use. Remember, in Blantyre, we use the dry artificial turf, and then we come here. Of course, this one is better, you can play two games in five days and be okay, but for us to play at Kamuzu and these other bumpy pitches, it’s very difficult, and we haven’t been spared when it comes to injuries, but that’s it, we just need to adapt, play these two important games and we move on,” he said.
