BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
NGEZI PLATINUM . . . (0) 0
CHICKEN INN. . . . . . . (2)2
TWO first half goals from attacking midfielder Brett Amidu helped log leaders Chicken Inn to their first victory ever at Baobab after beating 10-man Ngezi Platinum Stars in an entertaining league match yesterday.
Chicken Inn managed to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches, recording six wins and one draw to sit comfortable at the top of the standings.
A lot was expected from the hosts who were in a bubble after pulling off a big win against defending champions FC Platinum at Mandava last week.
But a well taken Amidu goal in the 12th minute pegged the Ngezi Platinum back after a promising start.
Ngezi Platinum’s chances of restoring parity suffered a major blow after McDonald Makuwe was shown a straight red card for dangerous play after a clash with Richard Hachiro.
The visitors would double their lead seven minutes before the breather after a swift move, which saw the inform striker Brian Muza assist Amidu for his and the team’s second of day.
The defeat comes a few days after local media reported the imminent takeover by former Warriors striker Benjani Mwaruwari at the Mhondoro- Ngezi based side as the substantive coach.
However, the club is yet to confirm the development but Tinashe Nengomasha who is said to be one of Mwaruwari’s assistants was conspicuous by his presence at the match.
Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas was elated by his first win at Baobab.
“I am happy to have won here at Baobab since Ngezi’s inception and I am happy about scoring two goals and coming up with a clean sheet,” Antipas said.
Ngezi Platinum Stars coach Takesure Chiragwi felt a bad first half show was the reason for the team’s defeat against the log leaders.
“We started on a slow pace and the rhythm was not good enough. Chicken Inn really wanted it in the first half, good at pressing and very energetic on the transition. Our first half performance was not good enough hence we got punished because we were not good enough,” Chiragwi said after the loss.
Ngezi Platinum dominated the exchanges in the second half in spite of their numerical disadvantage but it was the visitors who created better scoring chances.
Amidu was unlucky not to have bagged a hattrick after he failed to beat the hosts’ goalkeeper Nelson Chadya in a one on one situation after he was fed by Muza early in the second half.
The margin could have been wider save for Chadya’s brilliance between the sticks for the hosts and he had to rescue his side to parry out Xolisani Ndlovu’s shot from range in the 70th minute.