Caps United fought back in the second half to salvage a point against a resilient Bulawayo Chiefs, thanks to a William Manondo header yesterday afternoon.
The match was characterised by missed opportunities from both sides but it kept the sizable crowd on the edge of their seats.
Chiefs took the lead in the third minute when Never Rauzhi capitalised on a mistake by Hastings Chapusha to control the ball and fired past a stranded Tonderai Mateyaunga in goals for Caps.
Rauzhi missed the target by a few inches in the 32nd minute, twisting and turning his marker but shooting wide.
Junior Bunjira had a chance five minutes before the breather, but directed his effort off target after ghosting from the blind side.
Emmanuel Chikwende was yellow-carded in the 48th minute for a foul on Bunjira, leading to a free kick. Ralph Kawondera's header from the resultant set piece by Godknows Murwira forced a point-blank save from Prosper Matutu.
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Caps United persistence finally paid off in the 68th minute when Manondo headed a cross from Bruce Kangwa, beating a badly exposed Matutu, who was later substituted due to injury. Munashe Ndlovu replaced him in goal.
Caps should have won it in the 87th minute when Kawondera's miscued effort saw the ball falling kindly onto the path of Manondo, who failed to score with an open goal at his mercy. A minute later Manondo had another chance, but Ndlovu covered his far post well.
Due to numerous stoppages in the second half, 15 minutes of added time were played. Rauzhi squandered an opportunity to score the winner in the 92nd minute, rounding the goalkeeper but decided against shooting and was subsequently dispossessed.
Chiefs stand-in coach Bekithemba Ndlovu had mixed feelings about the draw, highlighting that they accepted the result even though they should have won the game. “A draw playing at home, we will take it but I think we were supposed to win,” Ndlovu said.
“We created a lot of chances (both in the) first and second half but we missed them. This has been our weakness in the past two or three games. So I think we need to work more on our finishing.”
His counterpart, Lloyd Chitembwe lauded his boys for getting the equaliser in the second half. “I applaud the boys for resilience. It's not easy to trail and go on to equalise and come up with a result,” said Chitembwe.
Teams
Bulawayo Chiefs
P Matutu (M Ndlovu 78), E Chikwende, N Masilela, M Dube (P Shoko 45), X Moyo, L Ndlela, N Rauzhi, M Feldman, M Hativagoni, G Muchenje, J Masaza
Caps United
T Mateyaunga, H Chapusha, E Manokore, B Kangwa, G Muriwira, K Mureremba, R Kawondera, J Bunjira (T Matindife 59, C Sithole 90+11), W Makuva (P Bhamusi 67), R Chinyengetere, W Manondo