Emmanuel Savieli scored two goals and assisted another to inspire Ekhaya FC to their second win in the second round of the TNM Super League after beating Kamuzu Barracks 3-0 at Mpira Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The Cowboys sealed sweet revenge after being beaten 1-0 in the first round at Champions Stadium, but Savieli’s goals in each half plus a strike from James Lumbe secured the win.
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Meanwhile, the visitors began well in the match as Samson Chiponda came close to scoring in the 11th minute when he went one-on-one with Joshua Waka, but his attempt went wide before Lloyd Mugala guided his header against the post after meeting Sam Gunda’s free kick three minutes later.
The visitors introduced Zeliat Nkhoma for Stain Chirwa at the half-hour mark while Ekhaya brought in James Lumbe for Blessings Malinda. Then Levison Mnyenyembe was fouled in the box by Mike Mtoyo and Savieli converted the penalty in the 36th minute before Stanley Biliati squandered a better chance three minutes later.
Francis Mchema nearly grabbed an equalizer when his shot narrowly missed the target in the 47th minute before Biliati forced Hastings Banda into a save. Then Lumbe set up Savieli for his second of the day in the 53rd minute and scored his own after receiving a pass from Savieli to add a third a minute later.
Sam Gunda forced Waka into a great save while Biliati missed a sitter after being set up by Lumbe. Then Olson Kanjira and Zinjani Yonah replaced Chiponda and Mchema while Mnyenyembe and Biliati made way for Samuel Rukura and Wongani Kaponya. Two late chances from Nkhoma and Kanjira failed to find the hosts a consolation goal.
Head coach for Ekhaya FC, Enos Chatama, hailed his boys for a job well done, saying that the game was tough for them.
“We have won the game but it was tough because KB lost in their Cup match against Bullets, so today they didn’t want to leave without points and they pressed us more in the opening minutes. But we changed things and found spaces to penetrate the team,” said Chatama.
On his side, Nicolas Mhango of Kamuzu Barracks said the penalty goal plus two quick goals in the early minutes of the second half stunned them.
“We started very well in the first half but we made a mistake and conceded that penalty which killed the confidence in the boys. Then in the second half, giving away two quick goals completely finished us,” Mhango said.
The win took Ekhaya up to 32 points on the log table as they have won 10 games, drawn two and lost 8, placing them in 6th position, while Kamuzu Barracks stay 9th with 26 points from 7 wins, five draws and 8 defeats in the league.
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