ZESCO UNITED TOO STRONG FOR MALEMBE

Ndola based FAZ/MTN Super League giants, ZESCO United this afternoon trounced their cross town rivals Forest Rangers by 0-3 in the mighty Ndola derby played at the Levy Mwanawasa stadium, Ndola.

Goals from veteran striker Winston Kalengo, Tafadzwa Rusike and Enock Sakala junior was all ZESCO United needed to silence their noisy neighbors.

This game was billed to be the fixture of the day with Forest Rangers carrying the bragging rights having beaten ZESCO United 0-1 in the FAZ/MTN Super League week 2 fixture.

However, ZESCO United head coach Numba Mumamba was not going to give the hosts another opportunity to have a say in terms of who rules City of Ndola.

Last week Mumamba rallied his players to show Forest Rangers that they(Forest Rangers) deserve to be below the 8 times league champions.

Mumamba named a powerful starting XI that radiated a mix of youth and experience. At the back, Simon Silwimba Fackson Kapumbu, Solomon Sakala and Adrian Chama made their presence.

Samuel Sikaonga, Kelvin Kampamba, enterprising Chanda Mukuka, and Tafadzwa Rusike were charged with the role of marshalling the midfield and spearheading attacks going forward.

Winstone Kalengo and Jesse Were were given the responsibility to make life unbearable for the Forest Rangers defenders.

The game came to life as early as the 12^’ minute with Winston Kalengo opening the deadlock.

Kalengo pounced on a loose ball in the box after Forest defenders failed to clear a Solomon Sakala effort inside the penalty box.

2’minutes later Tafadzwa Rusike added more misery to Rangers by scoring the visitors second goal after being put through by Kalengo.

Forest Rangers goalkeeper, Daniel Mutshinemu was having a difficult afternoon he will never forget.

Before today’s encounter, Mumamba had directed his players to show authority over Forests Rangers.

His charges responded with both verve and oomph that proved too much for Malembe players to handle.

In the 37’ minute Samuel Sikaonga came close unfortunately his header glanced off the cross bar.

ZESCO United finished the first half on a high with a 0-2 goal margin. The second half started the same as the first with ZESCO United pressing forward.

Adrian Chama came close in the 62’ minute firing a powerful shot from a freekick which was saved by Mtshinemu.

Unfortunately for Mtshinemu, Enock Sakala scored the third goal of the game to put the match beyond Forest Rangers.

Sakala received a pass from Ching’and before unleashing a sumptuous right-footed effort from the edge of the box which Mutsnemu could not save.

This victory means that ZESCO United go top of the league table with 34 points having played 18 games followed by Zanaco Football club who have 33 with 19 games thus far played.

Author: Desmond Katongo