ZESCO RUNS RIOT…THRASHES ENUGU (AG) 5-2
Published On April 16, 2017 » 175 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Football, Sports
http://www.times.co.zm/?p=94895
ZESCO United qualified to the group stage of the of the CAF Confederation Cup group stage after beating Enugu Rangers of Nigeria thanks to man of the moment John Ching’andu’s brilliant brace.
And exicited coach Zlatko Krmpotic said paid a glowing tribute to his players and the brand of football they displayed.
“I said before the game that we go for one goal more. Congratulations to my team and congratulations to opponents. We must continue now to play this football we played today,” said Krmpotic.
Enugu had a troubled build up to the game which saw their coach Imama Amapakabo fired after drawing the first leg in Nigeria then the players refused to board the plane to fly to Ndola due to unpaid allowances which delayed their departure.
The team arrived about two hours before kick-off and was driven straight to Levy Mwanawasa Stadium upon arrival.
“We had a slight problem back home, we missed our flight on Thursday. We only managed to get another flight yesterday morning. So we had to play slow and I was afraidit was going to be more than this,” Chukwumu the Enugu coach said.
But Ching’andu was in no compromising mood as he punished the Nigerians with his brilliant form which has continued after that man of the match performance against Nkana in the Charity Shield final.
The first half was always going to be one sided as the Nigerians were still jet lagged.
Zesco showed their intent as early as the second minute when Jesse Were’s header was well saved by Nana Bonsu.
Eight minutes later Mbombo missed a free header from a Fackson Kapumbu cross, then David Odhiambo shot wide after a goal mouth scramble in the 14th minute.
A minute earlier Enugu’s Bobby Clement beat the Zesco defense but his effort was stopped by Jacob Banda in goal.
Then in the 24th minute Chingandu showed everyone how it is done when he connected Were’s pass with a powerful right foot that bounced off the post to give the hosts the lead.
Ten minutes later Ching’andu was at it again but this time his long range shot was tipped for a corner by the goalkeeper.
There was no stopping his effort in the 38th minute when he rose high to nod in Kapumbu’s cross as Zesco took a comfortable lead to the break.
After resumption, Enugu returned a bit organised but did very little to trouble the Zesco defense.
Krmpotic rested Daka for Patrick Kongolo in the 59th minute but it was Were who killed the game as a contest when his shot on the turn went straight into the goal.
The body language of the Enugu players told the whole story as they played only to wind down time knowing they had lost the match.
Banda denied Enugu a consolation when rushed onto Clement to timely block his effort.
Zesco held to the lead until the final whistle to progress to the group stage 5-2 on aggregate.
