Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has revealed that the Airtel Top 8 semifinal games shall be played at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
In these fixtures, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets shall travel to the capital to lock horns against Karonga United on 21 June 2025, and a day later, there shall be a Lilongwe Derby as Civil Service United are expected to face Silver Strikers.
There’s a sense of nostalgia in these encounters.
On 11 December 2021, Silver Strikers defeated Civil 2-0, courtesy of goals from Stain Davie and Zebron Kalima.
Bullets, too, have fond memories — they once shot past Karonga United 8-1 on aggregate back in 2022.
Sports analyst, Kim Kamau, said the upcoming games will give all teams a neutral venue in the competition.
“We should also commend the teams for displaying good football. Silver beat Moyale with a wide margin, same with Civil,” Kamau said.
On Sunday, Silver Strikers were the last team to book the last-four slot following a 4-1 aggregate win as they thrashed Moyale Barracks 3-1 at Rumphi Stadium.
The Central Bankers dominated the match early on through passing combinations between Chimwemwe Idana and Festus Duwe.
In the 16th minute, Chinsinsi Maonga linked up neatly with Idana before laying it off for Stain Davie, who slotted home with a simple finish to give the visitors the lead.
Moyale Barracks resorted to double substitutions early in the second half when Clever Kalambo and Jimmy Viyuyi were introduced to replace Ronald Kumwenda and Chimwemwe Kashoti, who had made the team display brief signs of improvement, only for it to be halted minutes later.
In the 59th minute, a misplaced pass in midfield by Moyale proved costly when Uchizi Vunga intercepted and released Idana on the left flank, who then squared it to Duwe for a calm finish to double Silver’s advantage.
Just eight minutes later, Duwe struck again, this time from long range after receiving a pass from Davie – his powerful shot from 25 metres left the Moyale keeper stranded.
Moyale pulled one back in the 81st minute when Black Allisen headed home from a Lovemore Jere corner, giving the home fans a brief moment of hope.
At the end of the match, Duwe was awarded the man-of-the-match accolade (Dolo wa Match), his second as he did similarly in Lilongwe on the first leg and became the top goal scorer of the tournament with 3 goals.
Former Flames midfielder Chimango Kayira hailed Duwe’s performance, describing him as “a rare gem”.
“Coming from the academy ranks of Ascent, it has highly depicted how rich the academy is to produce such a graduate,” Kayira added.
Reacting to the game, Silver Strikers’ Coach, Peter Mgangira, described the first two games as competitive.
“These are cup games, whereby if you score away, they give you confidence. We are happy that we have proceeded into another stage,” Mgangira said.
Moyale Barracks’ Coach, Pritchard Mwansa, said it was not good enough for them to have lost.
“We lost possession too much, we made a lot of mistakes too much, that is why we got these results. We need to improve in a lot of areas,” Mwansa said.
On Saturday, Civil completed the Airtel Top 8 Cup semifinal call following a 4-0 victory over Mzuzu City Hammers as the two had earlier fired blanks in a 0-0 stalemate.
Defending champions, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, proceeded into the semifinals after edging out the tournament’s rookies, Creck Sporting 1-0 (on aggregate), courtesy of Maxwel Gastin Phodo’s 29th-minute goal on 26 April.
On 27 April, Karonga United had done the unthinkable after stunning Mighty Wanderers 2-1 on aggregate.
