FC Platinum fall to Horoya

By Mehluli Sibanda

FC Platinum were yesterday left with a mountain to climb after Horoya of Guinea handed them their second defeat in the Caf Champions League mini-league stage at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo, a loss which left the Zimbabwean champions rooted to the bottom of the group with just a point.

A second half penalty converted by Marius Assoko condemned the two-time in a row Zimbabwean champions to their second consecutive defeat in the Champions League group stage. Norman Mapeza’s team has gone for 270 minutes without finding the target in the group stage while they have conceded three goals.

With the win, Horoya moved to third spot with four points, the same number as Esperance and Orlando Pirates who met in South Africa last night. Mapeza conceded that the situation is dire for his team, who now must win their remaining three matches, two away and one at home to stand a chance of making it through to the next round of the competition.

“For us it’s a huge mountain to climb, I think for me as a coach and the players it’s a good experience, we just have to keep working hard and see what happens in our next games,’’ Mapeza said.

On the penalty, which was awarded to the visitors when skipper Petros Mhari cluttered into the visiting captain Ocansey Mandela, Mapeza felt that the decision was cruel for his side since he thought the attacking player looked for the contact with the goalkeeper.

“On our part we were not our usual self today, of course we conceded from a penalty, which I thought was a little bit harsh on our part. If you look at the position of the ball and where the player was going, he went straight to our goalkeeper, he wasn’t going to the ball. At the end of the day its part of the game,’’ said Mapeza.

With FC Platinum heading off to Guinea to face Horoya again before they make a trip to South Africa to take on Orlando Pirates prior to playing Esperance at home, Mapeza is looking at the three matches as a way of gaining more knowledge about the game.

“For us its much about experience, this is our first time to play in the Champions League group stage, I think we are learning all the way, we just have to keep working hard and see what happens in our remaining matches,” said Mapeza.

Horoya coach, Patrice Neveu, speaking through an interpreter was delighted with the away victory, the first for the Guineans following a 1-1 draw against Esperance and a 3-0 loss at the hands of Pirates.

“We are happy with the result that we have had so far, especially the away victory. We are also satisfied with the quality of the play, the players played well, it was a good game,’’ Neveu said.

Horoya dominated for most parts of the match and had more attempts at goal compared to FC Platinum. With the visitors having tested Mhari a number of times, the Zimbabwean champions had their first shot at goal in the 17th minute when midfielder Kelvin Madzogwe had his effort going over from a Gift Mbweti pass. Horoya were even more superior in the second half where they carved open the FC Platinum defence especially on the counter. It was from such a move that they got their penalty.

Mandela was put through and a collision with Mhari saw Algerian referee Mustapha Ghorbal, who was closer to the action point to the spot with a yellow card shown to the goalkeeper. Assoko sent Mhari the wrong way to give the visitors the lead.

FC Platinum tried by all means to find the equaliser, William Stima getting his attempt from a free kick pushed out for a corner by Horoya goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye in the 64th minute.

Mhari produced a brilliant save to deny Mandela with 74 minutes played as the visitors looked to double their lead.

With 90 minutes up, substitute Albert Eonde blew a perfect opportunity to equalise for FC Platinum, the Cameroonian striker guiding his header over the posts from a good cross sent into the box by Madzongwe.

On the other end, another substitute, Sekou Keita could have doubled his team’s advantage only to shoot wide but that did not matter as the West Africans walked away victorious.

The match was watched by a much smaller crowd compared to the numbers for FC Platinum’s clash with Pirates where over 23 000 tickets were sold with thousands of fans turned away as Barbourfields was full.

Teams
FC Platinum: Petros Mhari, Farai Madhanaga, Devon Chafa (Nhamo 58 mins ), Kelvin Madzongwe, Raphael Muduviwa, Charles Sibanda(Eonde 78 mins) , William Stima, Gift Bello, Rahman Kutsanzira, Kevin Moyo, Gift Mbweti(Sadiki 72 mins)

Horoya: Khadim Ndiaye, Hudu Yakubu, Marius Assoko, Abdoulaye Camara, Godfred Asante, Sebe Kyei, Sakin Bolaji(Nikiema 73 mins), Ibrahim Conde, Amadou Mohamed, Boniface Haba(Keita 88 mins), Ocansey Mandela(Camara 84 mins) Sunday News