Simba reclaim league control

Pace makers Simba made it to the top of the Mainland premiership soccer standings in style as they floored African Lyon by 4-0 goals at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

Simba came close to break the deadlock barely seven minutes after the kickoff as Emmanuel Okwi’s power-packed shot hit the cross bar and bounced back into lay.

Felix Sunzu opened the floodgates for Simba with a spot kick after 14 minutes following a handball by African Lyon’s defender in a frantic efforts to clear Uhuru Suleiman’s goal-bound kick.

Simba were at their best during the first half but failed to make use of the glorious opportunities that would have earned them goals galore.

Okwi and Uhuru were the culprits for Simba’s failure to score goals particularly in the first half.

However, Okwi rectified his misfiring trend to score Simba’s second goal soon after resumption (47th minute) capitalising on Suleiman Kassim’s poor marking.

Okwi was again on target to punish Lyon defenders for sloppy marking as Simba were three goals up just three minutes later.

Lyon’s lackluster defence saw their team conceding the fourth goal of the match after 58 minutes as Shomari Kapombe was on target again for Simba making use of Sunzu’s cross.

Kapombe was then replaced by Patrick Mafisango soon after scoring Simba’s fourth goal of the day. The match came to a standstill for almost ten minutes when Lyon’s goalkeeper sustained injuries and was replaced.

The victory has placed Simba at the hem of the standings table with 21 points, two above debutants Oljoro JKT who enjoyed the position for just a week.

The victory was Simba’s biggest in terms of number of goals for the season as they remain the only side unbeaten in out of the 14 competing.

Fourth placed in the standings table are Azam FC with 18 points as holders Young Africans who saw off visiting Kager as Sugar last Friday are third.

Line-Ups:

Simba:
Juma Kaseja, Said Nassoro, Juma Jabu, Obadia Mungusa, Shomari Kapombe/Patrick Mafisango, Ulumboka Mwakingwe/ Gervais Kargo, Jerry Santo, Felix Sunzu/ Amri Kiemba, Emmanuel Okwi and Uhuru Suleiman.

African Lyon:
Noel Munishi, Sammy Kessy/Jacob Masawe, Shaaban Aboma, Hassan Mwamba/ Razak Khalfan, Aziz Sibo, Suleiman Kassim, Bakari Nzige, Idd Mbaga/ Hemed Mumba, Moddy Mayanja.