Harare | Yesterday at National Sports Stadium, Dynamos lost another important two points when they were kept scoreless in a goalless Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match against Black Rhinos.
After dropping five points in a midweek loss to Manica Diamonds, Dynamos’ advantage over log leader Ngezi Platinum was now just two points.
With four games left, Dynamos are now second on 50 points, seven points behind Ngezi.
Both sides took their time settling into the game at first.
Numerous regular players for the Dynamos were sidelined by injury and suspensions.
Tanaka Shandirwa, Brendon Mpofu, Elvis and Kelvin Moyo, and Captain Frank Makarati were on the list of those not present.
Lenon Gonese easily gathered a harmless Issa Sadiki free kick in the 29th minute, which was the only chance on target Dynamos managed to take throughout the first half.
Valentine Katsande’s deflected shot in the 38th minute after a lovely exchange of passes, and Prince Tafiremutsa of Dynamos was up to the challenge of denying Rhinos twice when they looked threatening.
Five minutes later, Lot Chiwunga’s spectacular scissors kick was likewise caught by Tafiremutsa.
Tafiremutsa was grateful to the upright for blocking Dematsika’s header just before halftime.
Dynamos played with more purpose in the second half, and Gonese, who fell awkwardly and required medical attention for almost three minutes, stopped a Donald Mudadi attempt in the 54th minute.
Dynamos began to exert control over the situation, but they received little credit for their efforts.
In the last fifteen minutes of play, Rhinos regained control of the game, but this time they were unable to test the Dynamos custodian.
Genesis Mangombe, the Dynamos coach, lamented his players’ overabundance of games since their encounter against Triangle, which he thought made the match challenging for them.
Mangombe, nevertheless, is positive about the remaining games and thinks that if they want to have a shot at winning, they need to finish with all of the points.
Because we are a large team, the Dynamos, we should take advantage of our opportunities and bury them.
They also wanted to escape the relegation zone, so it was really tough for us. Today, we had a couple opportunities to bury them, but that’s just football.
“The difference is little if we focus on each game and get as many points as possible.
“If we want to be champions, we don’t need to lose points like this.
“We must go back to the drawing board and decide how we are going to pursue the log leaders—that is, by successfully completing our next missions.
We played with a weakened team despite our squad’s many injuries and bans, but we still gave it our all.
“Everyone is able to play for Dynamos, but they must demonstrate their eligibility, which is why we said we enrolled 30 players.
“Since the game against Triangle, CAPS, Manica Diamonds, today, and then midweek again, we have played in a lot of games.
“There are players who are not performing to our standards; their legs were a little too heavy, and even my two wingers were unable to run,” the coach said.
Chaminuka also regretted his guys’ inability to take use of their opportunities, believing that two points were wasted rather than earned.
“It’s two points lost, and you don’t realise that we’re not going to convert our opportunities and maybe that’s just the nature of football,” he said.
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