Kalisto Pasuwa said beating rivals Mighty Mukuru Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday will inspire his FCB Nyasa Big Bullets to continue looking for more for the remainder of the TNM Super League campaign.
A strike each from Ronald Chitiyo and Babatunde Adepoju in the first half at Kamuzu Stadium gave Bullets their first league win over Wanderers since the first round of the 2022 season. Our opponents reduced the arrears through Thierry Tajong Samar late in the final period.
The victory saw the defending champions move back into the top three as the title race has reached its boiling point.
Third in the standings, Bullets are four points behind the Nomads and trail league leaders Silver Strikers by 10 points.
Reflecting on the victory, our second derby win this season after we dumped Wanderers out of the FDH Bank Cup, Pasuwa told journalists after the final whistle on Saturday that it was just a matter of time before his men recorded a win after playing so many draws in the previous league derbies.
“It’s a massive win for us. We haven’t had such a win in a derby in the league, but these three points will give my boys much-needed confidence, and I hope it will inspire them more for the remainder of the season.
Again, our head coach was impressed with how Bullets took Wanderers head-on to score the two goals that won us the match in the opening period.
“Like last time, we went to them early and got the two goals. We managed to hold them in the remaining minutes of the first half to go to the recess with a massive lead.”
On the other hand, Pasuwa was not pleased with our lack of concentration and conceded against a side that had their captain, Lawrence Chaziya, sent off.
“In the second half, especially in the last 20 minutes, we lost concentration against a side that had a red card, and we also ultimately failed to manage the ball as if we were on the losing side.
“In the future, we must manage the game when we find ourselves in such a situation. Otherwise, seeing them pressurising us wasn’t a pleasant feeling, yet we had a one-man advantage over them.
“That wasn’t good at all. It’s all about maturity. In these minutes, with a one-man advantage, we need to manage the ball by keeping possession and preventing the opponents from winning the ball, but that’s not what we did. We committed schoolboy errors that allowed them to come back into the game. We need to work on this so that it doesn’t happen again.
“However, kudos to the boys for defending their lead to collect these massive points. It’s one of those games we were looking forward to, and we hope the boys will not give up. We will [have to] play till the final game of the season. You can’t rule yourself out of a competition with seven games left to play. Remember, we play 30 games, and that’s why I always say we will see after the end of these games.”
