League leaders Highlanders restored their five-point lead at the top of the premiership table with a 1-0 defeat of basement side Black Rhinos in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Match Day 19 clash played in front of a good crowd at Barbourfields Sunday afternoon.
A howler by Rhinos goalkeeper Lenon Gonese on the half hour mark gifted the Bulawayo side the goal they would go on to hang on to for a crucial win. Gonese failed to deal with what looked like an easy catch from a set piece effort by Andrew Mbeba to allow the ball to sail into the top right corner of his goal post after slipping off his arms.
Earlier, big striker Stanley Ngala shot straight at the goalkeeper from the 12 yard box when he suddenly found the ball between his legs with Rhinos defenders nowhere to be seen. Highlanders could have doubled their advantage when the talismanic skipper Ariel Sibanda took the long walk across the field to miss a penalty kick which presented itself deep into the clash.
Sibanda’s spot kick was parried back into play by Gonese to deny the unbeaten league leaders another deserved goal. Highlanders went into the clash with two points separating them with second placed Ngezi Platinum and were keen to maintain their buffer with the Mhondoro Ngezi title contenders.
Black Rhinos also had their own sporadic spells of good play in the clash but never did much to cause damage to their hosts. In other Match Day 19 fixtures played Sunday, Dynamos caretaker coach Genesis Mangombe started his first premiership assignment in full charge with a 2-0 victory over Sheasham at Bata Stadium.
Mangombe was thrown at the deep end after the sacking of head coach Herbert Maruwa for failing to meet tight performance targets set by the Dembare executive. Dembare got their goals through Jayden Bakare 38 minutes into the clash while Eli Ilunga made it two with 10 minutes left on the referee’s watch.
After Match Day 19 round of fixtures, Highlanders still top the standings on 41 points while Ngezi Platinum are second on 36. Manica Diamonds are third on 35 while Dynamos occupy number four on 32 points.
SUNDAY RESULTS
Highlanders 1-0 Black Rhinos
Triangle United 1-3 Manica Diamonds
Sheasham 0-2 Dynamos
Hwange 3-1 Yadah
Source ZimLive
