Mighty Wanderers have trimmed their gap with league leaders, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, to four points following Wednesday’s 3-1 victory against Blue Eagles at Nakhaka Stadium in Lilongwe.
Bullets leads the standings with 49 points from 20 games, while Wanderers is second with 45 points from 19 games.
During Wednesday’s game, Wanderers started with a clear attacking intent.
On the 7th minute, Wallace Adam started with a shot from his right near the 18-yard but his attempt was blocked by Eagles’ Benet Konyo.
Eagles responded three minutes later with an attack led by Andrew Mapemba, but his effort was saved by Dalitso Khungwa.
Wanderers piled more pressure and the away side then took the lead after 17 minutes through a Blessings Mwalilino effort, who scored through a rebound.
Eagles tried to launch counter-attacks in response, but they were ineffective.
Mwalilino was proving to be a nightmare for Eagles’ defenders, despite being tightly marked by Sankhani Mkandawire.
On the 27th minute, Mwalilino managed to beat two defenders but in his final touch, he was stopped by Mkandawire.
However, Mwalilino doubled the score line on the 29th minute after capitalising on a cross delivered by Muhamad Sulumba.
Five minutes later, Blue Eagles were on again with counter attacks, and this time it was led by Pius Saka, who took a long shot, only to miss the target.
Wanderers quickly launched an attack from the back up to attacker, Rajab Nyirenda, who had his effort blasted wide.
By this time, Wanderers started dominating the game.
This made Blue Eagles’ Coach, Deklerk Msakakuona, to make substitutions in the first half by introducing Tonic Viyuyi, Gilbert Chirwa and Ganizani James to replace Ranken Mwale, Benet Konyo and Andrew Mapemba.
Just right before the half-time, on the 37th minute, Wallace Adam for Wanderers was brought down in the box by Eagles’ Gilbert Chirwa, resulting in a penalty. Adam had dribbled past three defenders before the foul.
Isaac Kaliati scored the third goal for his side through the penalty kick, on the 38th minute, sending Eagles’ keeper, Precious Masamba, the wrong way.
Wanderers nearly scored a fourth goal on the 42nd minute as Muhamad Sulumba missed the target by a close margin.
Eagles had a chance on the 44th minute as Maxwell Gustavo sent a cross to Soko, but his header was saved by Khungwa.
They attacked again two minutes later, as Viyuyu’s shot was also stopped by Khungwa.
After the half-time, Wanderers returned to attacking ways.
On the 60th minute, Eagles launched an attack as their attacking midfielder, Micium Mhone made his first attempt which was saved for a corner, but that set-piece was wasted by Mhone himself as Wanderers defenders managed to clear their lines.
The following minutes saw Wanderers being very composed as their midfield proved to be strong and Eagles failed to even make 10 straight passes in their own box or their opponents’.
Wanderers then introduced Promise Kamwendo and Samson Banda for Blessings Mwalilino and Rajab Nyirenda on the 67th minute.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, Eagles Laurent Banda managed a cross, which he targeted Viyuyu, but he failed to score with his head.
Nonetheless, two minutes later, Saka scored from a rebound after Wanderers’ defenders were in a miscommunication scandal. Saka even kicked the ball harder into the net after it was already in.
Later, Wanderers introduced fresh legs upfront by bringing in Sama Thierry Tanjong, Blessings Singini and Wisdom Mpinganjira for Isaac Kaliati, Dan Kudontho and Wallace Adam.
Eagles had their last real threat on the Wanderers goal on the 90th minute when Mhone delivered a lob from a free-kick, but it was wasted at the end.
At the end of the match, Wanderers’ Blessings Mwalilino was awarded as the man of the match.
Bob Mpinganjira, Coach for Wanderers said it was a very good game, especially in the first-half.
“We scored three goals while playing away, this is good. I am very happy that we have three points in the bag,” Mpinganjira said.
Coach for Eagles, Deklerk Msakakuona, said their opponents ‘never gave them a chance’ and hailed them that they played well.
“We have to still keep working hard because we have 9 games to go,” Msakakuona said.
Elsewhere, in Blantyre Ekhaya FC have beat Kamuzu Barracks 3-0, while in Lilongwe Civil Service United played a 0-0 draw against Mighty Tigers.
