By Precious Bwale
Power Dynamos secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Nchanga Rangers in a tense encounter played at Nchanga Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, handing the hosts their first home defeat of the season.
Nchanga Rangers started brightly, pressing high and dominating the early minutes of the game. But when an opportunity arose, Power Dynamos made it count with Ishmael Ankobo opening the scores in the 15th minute.
The hosts thought they had leveled in the dying moments of the first half, but their effort was ruled out for offside, a decision that left the home crowd and the technical bench frustrated.
After the break, Nchanga Rangers continued to fight back and created several dangerous chances. Their task became harder in the 75th minute, when Rodger Kumiyamba was sent off after receiving a second yellow card, leaving them to finish the match with ten men.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Nchanga Rangers continued to push, while Power Dynamos struggled to maintain control and convert their chances.
Speaking after the match, Power Dynamos head coach Oswald Mutapa praised his team’s first-half performance but admitted the second half was difficult to manage.
“We controlled the first half, scored a goal, we could have scored more but we didn’t finish our chances,” said Mutapa.
“In the second half, they came on us. Even when they were a man down, we found it difficult to control the game ,as a result, the pressure was on us.”
With a tight schedule that includes both local league and CAF fixtures, Mutapa saw it fit to rotate his squad handing rare starts to some players. However, after the game, he admitted that those given the opportunity didn’t give their all.
“They can do much better, but maybe they played with pressure because we requested them to put in effort,not enough as we would love but at the end of the day, they have mileage in their legs for the next game,” he said.
He also responded to claims of poor officiating from the host.
“We have the veo ( Veo Sports camera), something we always go back and look at. If it was an offside, there was the first assistant. I didn’t see it, but these things happen in split seconds,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nchanga Rangers assistant coach Israel Mwanza was disappointed by the results and also expressed frustration at the officiating, insisting it cost them the match.
“It’s not what we expected, especially in the first half we didn’t play our game,” he said.
“Power is not a big team, but the officiating was not up to date. The referee was just flashing cards. We scored a similar goal to theirs, but ours was ruled as offside.”
Power Dynamos now turn their attention to Oswald Mutapa’s former side Nkwazi ,whom they face on Sunday as they look to build on their momentum. Meanwhile, Nchanga Rangers will be at home against FC MUZA in their Week 10 fixture, aiming to deliver a strong performance in front of their fans.
