FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Head Coach, Kalisto Pasuwa gave a brutal reason for hooking off the Zimbabwean defender, Collins Mujuru against Mzuzu City Hammers on Saturday afternoon.
The people’s team returned to winning ways after two goals from Chawangwa Gumbo and Patrick Mwaungulu downed motivated Hammers to move to second position with their third win of the season.
MORE NEWS FROM WAMPIRA
Bullets failed to stamp authority with their passing football as Hammers were pressing them hard, pinning them to play in their own half thereby making them commit fouls and making mistakes.
Twice Bullets’ defense lacked precision with their passes and Mujuru allowed Chimwemwe Chunga to win the ball but he was unfortunate to miss the target. After seeing spaces and fouls in his defense, Pasuwa decided to bring on Yamikani Mologen for Mujuru after escaping a penalty appeal from Hammers.
Gomezgani Chirwa shifted centrally, partnering with Blessings Mpokera who made his second start this season as a Centre-half just before the break.
Speaking after the game, the Zimbabwean gaffer said his players were underrating their opponents, and he needed them to be careful as Hammers are a good team.
“Remember, this is a team that was second before playing against us and we play against them trying to do funny things in front of them and the results would see them punishing us.
“It is the attitude from our boys where at times they underrate teams, you saw our center-backs trying to dribble at the back, you can’t do that at this level of football. We need to be careful in whatever we do, we need to respect these other teams because there is no smaller team in the league,” he said.
Pasuwa remains calm in the title race
The win for the 17-time Super League Champions cushioned the pressure after enduring their difficult ever start to the season since 2017. They have dropped 8 points already in seven games and trailing by three points behind Silver Strikers after playing a game more.
However, Bullets’ Coach said it’s just the start of the season and it’s too early to talk about the title race as the league is won after playing 30 games.
Pasuwa says his team will regain the momentum saying he is having a new team with seven new faces joining the team at the beginning of this year.
“We have only played seven games, we can’t be talking about anything. Remember, this is a new team, we are rebuilding and several of my players are still out with injuries.
“We are trying different combinations using the players we promoted from reserve who were on loan [at Bangwe] and the new players that we brought from other teams and you can see that we are trying to bring in some combinations,” he added.
Babatunde, Kajoke ‘selfish’ display addressed
For the second week running in a row, Kalisto Pasuwa deployed Babatunde Adepoju and Hassan Kajoke as the two strikers. They started against Mafco FC, and they also started against Hammers.
The two towering strikers proved to be dangerous for the opposition’s side with their pace and aerial prowess but they were not combining well. Kajoke was in a good position to score his fifth consecutive goal at home against Hammers but he decided to rifle over the bar with Babatunde in a good position to score.
The Nigerian striker was played through and Kajoke who was playing as a right striker was unmarked, waiting for the ball but Baba decided to put his effort wide, prompting supporters to scream, “iwe patsira nzako iwe.”
Addressing the development after the game, Pasuwa said the partnership will come good as time goes on. “We are trying to bring new combinations. It will come good,” he said.
The people’s team are back on the road next weekend as they travel to Mzuzu to face Moyale Barracks at Mzuzu Stadium.
Discover more from Wa Mpira
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
