BULAWAYO giants Highlanders slipped to a first Castle Lager Premier Soccer League defeat of the season following a 2-0 defeat against rejuvenated champions FC Platinum at Mandava Stadium on Saturday.
Unbeaten in their first 19 matches in the Premiership this season, Bosso were seeking to extend their run to a record 20 matches against FC Platinum, who were winless in their last six matches, heading into the blockbuster clash.
An own goal by defender Peter Muduhwa in the seventh minute and Walter Musona’s goal 15 minutes from time sealed a huge win for FC Platinum.
The result meant, second placed Ngezi Platinum are now just two points behind Highlanders after the Mhondoro-based side sealed a clinical 3-0 win against Triangle at Baobab Stadium.
Heading into the encounter, high profile clash at Mandava, pressure was firmly on the hosts and their boss Norman Mapeza as they had uncharacteristically failed to pick up a victory in each of their last six games.
The Zvishavane-based side however wasted little time in taking control of the match when they opened the scoring barely seven minutes into the tie when Muduhwa deflected Walter Musona’s cross into his own net.
Musona doubled the scores on the 75th minute, when he benefited from a brilliant assist from Panashe Mutimbanyoka before scoring past the Bosso goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda with a well taken shot from close range.
FC Platinum head coach Norman Mapeza was delighted with the victory.
“This is the way we have been playing all along. We have been playing so good football but unfortunately we were not getting the desired results,” an elated Mapeza said after the match.
“At the end of the day, I sat down with the boys and said we have to keep pushing, it’s still a long journey; don’t think much about our position on the log standings. I’m happy for the boys. We watched how they were playing, they are playing well.
“At the end of the day, we did our homework. Even you can limit a team like Highlanders to have no shot on target, it means we were solid throughout the match,” Mapeza said.
His Highlanders counterpart Baltermar Brito, who is aiming to lead the Bulawayo giants to their first league success since 2006 said his team’s destiny is still in their hands despite the loss against FC Platinum.
“We lost but we can’t forget what these boys did in the last games. We remain on the top of the league.
“FC Platinum is not an ordinary team. They did well in this match. This is the 20th game and all along we were playing well.
“Nobody thought, we would be on top of the log standings at this point. We are remaining focused, hoping that we will win the next match. We are not stopping,” Brito said.
Castle Lager Premier Soccer League results & fixtures at a glance
Saturday: Green Fuel 1-0 Hwange, FC Platinum 2-0 Highlanders, Ngezi Platinum Stars 3-0 Triangle United, Chicken Inn 0-0 Cranborne Bullets, ZPC Kariba 0-0 Caps United, Black Rhinos 2-0 Bulawayo Chiefs
Sunday: Manica Diamonds v Herentals (Gibbo), Yadah v Sheasham (Gibbo), Dynamos v Simba Bhora (Babourfields)
Source NewZimbabwe
