Babatunde Adepoju and Precious Phiri were on target as FCB Nyasa Big Bullets came from behind to defeat Red Arrows 2-1 in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League at the Bingu National Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In what promised to be a tightly contested encounter, the two teams entered the match with determination and the hope of gaining an early advantage, especially the hosts who were very offensive in the opening minutes.
What happenedÂ
From the starting XI, it was evident that Kalisto Pasuwa went for nothing but victory at home with the inclusion of Zimbabwean midfielder Ronald Chitiyo in the central attacking role while leaving Frank Willard on the bench.
Bullets created the first chance in the fifth minute through Maxwell Phodo, who fired over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, the wing forward was at it again, this time around, failing to finish off an excellent delivery from Precious Sambani inside the penalty area as he saw his weaker shot easily stopped by Charles Kalumba.
The first ten minutes belonged to the Malawi champions, who were pressing for an early goal they nearly got in the ninth minute when Sambani sent another inviting ball into the box Michie Malonga made a brilliant clearance before Babatunde pounced. The resulting first corner of the game was easily defended by the visitors.
As Bullets continued searching for a goal, the visitors were slowly coming into the game as they started moving into the attacking zone with pace and precision, only that they lacked the finishing composure in front of Richard Chimbamba’s goal.
With 25 minutes played, Arrows created their first goal-scoring opportunity through Ackim Mumba, whose shot was easily saved by Chimbamba.
The visitors almost punished us in the 30th minute when Chimbamba made a late decision to clear the ball away from the box and lost it to Mumba, who played a fast one to Godfrey Ngwenya, but the former Power Dynamos midfielder was denied by our shot-stopper who made amends from his error with a brilliant save.
With four minutes left to play before recess, Phodo had a clear chance inside the area when he got the ball from Babatunde, unfortunately, he shot straight at Kalumba who was handling every threat thrown at him with ease.
Against the run of play, Brian Chilimina made his way into the box before he opened fire only to be denied by Chimbamba.
Pasuwa’s men had their last chance in the final minute of the half, but Chitiyo blasted his effort over the crossbar, and that was all for the half.
After the recess, Arrows coach, Chisa Mbewe, brought in captain Saddam Yusuf Phiri for Cedrick Onyumbu to increase their attacking prowess.
It was now a game of tactical battle, with Arrows keeping possession while Bullets closed down the attacking spaces to minimise the opposition’s chances of getting a goal.
The hosts had another chance in the 48th minute when Phodo made a brilliant move to his right before sending a cross into the box to Phiri. The midfielder did everything right by firing at goal but Kalumba was once again equal to the task with an incredible save.
At the other end, Chimbamba was called into action when he smartly cleared an inviting cross from Yusuf to keep the game at 0-0.
The next seven minutes saw Bullets giving away the ball to the opposition unnecessarily and from how the visitors were pressing, a goal was imminent.
In the 55th minute, both Precious Sambani and Clyde Senaji ball watched a long throw-in from Alassane Diarra to Ricky Banda, who sprinted to send a low pass which was bound for Saddam Yusuf but Nickson Nyasulu made a goal-saving tackle to concede a corner-kick which was well defended.
Two minutes after surviving, Bullets conceded. Banda dribbled past three defenders before slotting the ball home, beating Chimbamba who could only see the ball rolling into an empty net, 0-1.
The hosts were in turmoil as they gave away the ball so cheaply to Banda who found Diarra having spotted Chimbamba out of his line, he tried his luck only to miss the goal mouth with an inch.
60 minutes on the clock, Pasuwa brought in Ephraim Kondowe and Stanley Billiat for Chitiyo and Phodo while Anthony Shipanuka came in for Mumba.
The visitors were defending too deep to protect their slender lead and this invited more pressure from the hosts who were pressing in search of the equalizer.
At 68 minutes, Babatunde failed to put the ball into the net when he headed over the crossbar from Sambani’s excellent cross into the box.
In terms of play, Pasuwa’s men were able to pass around, move into the offensive zone and create chances but their finishing was very poor in the final third.
The clock was ticking very fast against the hosts who had the second leg in mind and the only way to keep their hopes alive was to score a goal or two to go into the second leg with confidence.
Indeed, they delivered when it mattered most in the 77th minute. Aaron was the architect of the goal. He made a brilliant run into the opposition’s half before finding Singo, who wasted no time by finding Babatunde on the edge of the box.
The Nigerian got the better of defender Malonga and faced the goal before firing past Kalumba to the far right. That was a screamer of a goal and the goalkeeper could do nothing to stop the strike from hitting the back of the net, 1-1.
This rejuvenated The People’s Team and their mission changed from ending the game at 1-1 to a team determined to get the result ahead of the return leg.
Sensing danger, Ciel Ebengo Ikoko and Derrick Bulaya replaced Ngwenya and Banda to try to balance the affair which, at this moment, was being dominated by Bullets.
The turn-around was completed in the 82nd minute when Peter Kalota conceded a corner kick which caught the visitors napping in the line of duty and from the rebound, Phiri rose to the occasion with a powerful effort that beat everyone, including Kalumba, into the net, 2-1.
There was a chance for the visitors to pull level in the 88th minute but Bulaya fired wide.
In the additional minutes, Singo, who picked a knock, was replaced by Blessings Mpokera.
There was a last chance for the hosts when they launched a spectacular counter-attack through Kondowe, but Mpokera, who was the recipient of our number 13’s pass, made a quick decision to fire at goal when passing to Babatunde was the best option as the three Bullets had only two defenders to beat.
In the end, Bullets registered an important win to go into the second leg with confidence with a 2-1 goal advantage.
The People’s Team will travel to Lusaka for the return leg against the Airmen next Saturday.
Next on the menu for The People’s Team is the FDH Bank Cup semi-final tie against Moyale Barracks on Wednesday evening at the same venue.
