Caps United’s hope of reaching the knockout stages of the Chibuku Super Cup suffered another major blow after succumbing to a morale-shattering 1-0 defeat to Harare City in a Group 1 encounter played at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
Harare City captain Marshall Machazane scored the solitary goal of the match after heading home Emmanuel Mandiranga’s corner kick in the 59th minute.
The goal was exactly what Harare City justly deserved having looked the hungrier of the two teams.
In fact, the Sunshine Boys could have opened the scoring earlier in the second half but Clive Rupiya’s audacious out-footed goal from an acute angle cannoned off the crossbar.
It was an emotional win for the Harare City boss Lloyd Chitembwe as he engineered his former club’s downfall in the country’s premier cup competition while the result puts CAPS United gaffer Darlington Dodo under immense pressure after a dismal run of results.
The defeat means the Green Machine dropped to the fifth position on the Group 1 standings on a paltry seven points from as many matches, a massive 10 points behind DeMbare, who have now qualified for the next stage of the competition.
Harare City are now in second position in the group on nine points following the victory.
Meanwhile, Highlanders will have to wait a bit longer before they can seal a place in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Chibuku Super Cup after being held to a 1-1 draw against Bulawayo Chiefs in a Group 2 encounter played at Barbourfields.
After Chicken Inn became the first team to qualify for the next round in Group 2, Bosso needed a victory to progress to the knockout stage.
The Bulawayo giants however failed to register a victory but they are still favourites to grab the remaining slot in the group as they are on eight points with two games left.
Highlanders took the lead in the 34th minute through a goal by Lynoth Chikuhwa after linking up well with Joel Ngodzo.
Chiefs tried to make a quick recovery but almost conceded another one on the stroke of halftime when Chikuhwa’s effort was cleared off the line.
Chiefs however eventually found the equaliser in the 63rd minute with Malvin Mkolo heading home from a corner kick.
In fact, the Ninjas could’ve taken the lead after Farau Matare’s shot hit the post with the Bosso goalkeeper and captain Ariel Sibanda beaten.
The two teams however settled for a share of the spoils.
