Knox regaining his touch as fox in the box

By Eddie Chikamhi

Zimbabwe international forward, Knox Mutizwa, appears to have rediscovered his scoring form in the South African Premiership campaign.

The striker scored his second goal in successive matches in Golden Arrows’ win over Maritzburg United over the weekend.

The former Highlanders star now has two goals to his name.

He grabbed the winner in the KwaZulu Natal derby on Saturday.

Arrows won the match 2-1 and Mutizwa was involved in both goals at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont.

Arrows fel behind in the first half but Mutizwa came in handy, with a perfect assist, as Lindokuhle Mtshali levelled matters soon after the restart.

Mutizwa then registered his name on the scoresheet, with 68 minutes played, when he reacted quickly to fire home from close range after Arrows had kept their opponents under pressure.

In fact, Zimbabweans dominated in this match as Warriors leftback Devine Lunga was voted man-of-the-match following an excellent all-round performance by helping out Abafana Bes’thende both in attack and defence.

Gritty midfielder, Danny Phiri, also made a welcome return to the side after recovering from a bad injury that grounded him for five months.

Phiri played the last 14 minutes of the game as Arrows safeguarded their lead.

The script could also be changing for the good for Mutizwa.

The 27-year-old was Arrows’ top goalscorer last season with 13 PSL goals.

His goal-scoring form last season made him one of the favourites in the PSL Golden Boot race.

But, he could not keep up the pace, in the midst of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

At this stage of the season, last year, the Zimbabwean had banged in seven goals from 11 starts and was already being tipped to go all the way in the Golden Boot race. Mutizwa, however, ended up tied in fourth place, with 13 goals to his name.

Orlando Pirates’ Malawian import, Gabadinho Mhango, and Highlands Park’s Peter Shalulile of Namibia were the joint winners on 16 goals each.

This season has been a difficult one for the Zimbabwean who has now featured in 12 of Arrows’ 14 matches.

He missed the opening two games because of injury.

Arrows coach, Mandla Ncikazi, has been cautious about throwing him into the deep-end.

The Zimbabwean forward made 10 appearances before finding the back of the nets. Mutizwa scored his first goal of the season from the penalty spot in Arrows’ 2-4 defeat to Cape Town City last week.

‘’Back with a bang, Mutizwa has scored 2 goals in 2 consecutive games,” said Arrows on their Twitter account.

Arrows are currently in eight place with 22 points. They are eight points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns and they have a game in hand.

However, with two goals to his name, the Golden Boot looks out of sight for Mutizwa as the leading scorer, Bradley Grobler of Supersport United, has already scored 12 goals as the season draws towards the halfway mark.

Meanwhile, Warriors defender Alec Mudimu was excited after collecting his first set of points with Turkish second-tier side Ankaraspor in the 1-0 home win over Keciorengucu.

The defender recently moved to Turkey in search of game time after he was frozen out by Moldova champions Sheriff Tiraspol.

“Meant a great deal to myself and everyone at the club with today’s victory.

‘’Very tough conditions and a well drilled opposing team. We all worked extremely hard and left everything on the pitch.

‘’Now let’s continue to push with momentum onto the next one,” he said.

Midfielder Marvelous Nakamba made a cameo appearance in Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory at Southampton on Saturday night. He was introduced in the 96th minute in place of the goal scorer Ross Barkley as Villa protected their gains.

Nakamba has been a subject of January transfer window gossip but the cameos could be a sign that the Villa manager, Dean Smith, still has plans with the Zimbabwean.

Another Zimbabwean, Admiral Muskwe was on target in the English Championship at the weekend.

However, Muskwe’s Wycombe suffered a huge 2-7 defeat at the hands of Brentford. The teams had been tied 2-2 at the break. ‘’Muskwe timed his run perfectly and was there to head the ball home and to get his first goal for Wycombe,’’ the club’s website reported.

Muskwe is on loan from English Premiership side Leicester City. The Herald