Harare City dump CAPS United

By Freedom Mashava

CAPS United’s Dominic Chungwa had an afternoon to forget after he turned from hero to villain as Makepekepe crashed out of the ZNA Charities Shield quarter-finals losing to Harare City yesterday. 

With the two teams tied 0-0, Chungwa was introduced as a second half substitute replacing midfielder Achieford Gutu.

The former Dynamos forward did not take time to settle as he thrust United into the lead with 15 minutes to go before the end of the match.

Phineas Bamusi was the architect as he beat City defenders on the right flank before crossing to Chungwa, who slotted home past Maxwell Nyamupanedengu.

Makepekepe, however, failed to hold on to the lead as they allowed the Sunshine Boys to get back into the match through a Honey Chimutimunzeve equaliser a minute before the end.

Chimutimunzeve headed home after the Makepekepe defence failed to deal with a corner.

The tie went straight into a penalty shootout and that is when Chungwa’s afternoon turned into a nightmare.

United scored their first three spot kicks through Joel Ngodzo, Ronald Pfumbidzayi and Hardlife Zvirekwi.

Chungwa was handed the responsibility to take the fourth spot kick and had his first effort saved by Nyamupanedengu but the referee Norman Matemera ordered a retake — adjudging that Nyamupanedengu had moved off his line before the kick.

Despite getting a second bite of the cherry, Chungwa again fluffed his lines when Nyamupanedengu dived to his right to save his spot kick.

This time around it was a legal block and Chungwa buried his head in shame. How quickly fortunes can change in a game of football.

Minutes earlier, the forward was the darling of the United fans as his goal was destined to carry them into the semi-finals of the tournament but at the end it was all gloom.

Veteran striker Leonard Tsipa also missed United’s fifth spot kick that could have levelled the scores.

Makepekepe coach Lloyd Chitembwe was disappointed with the result but commended his charges for being the better side throughout the match.

“In terms of numbers, we got a lot of players inside the box but we did not do what we were supposed to do to punish the opponents,” he said.

“It’s good to have a situation where you get more chances than the opposition but at the end of the day it’s all about burying those chances.

“I’m absolutely pleased with the progress we have made so far. Like I have always said, we are still work in progress.

“These are the kind of games which we will look back at before the season starts and say this is one situation we need to rectify.”

For their victory, Harare City will now face ZPC Kariba in the semi-finals of the competition.

ZPC reached the last-four after defeating Dynamos 1-0 a week ago.

The other semi-final will see Highlanders taking on FC Platinum. Daily News