Eagles reclaim top spot, Civo gets stabbed: Malawi TNM Super League
Blue Eagles FC added some salt to Civo United injury, when they defeated the struggling civil servants 1-0 in a midweek TNM Super League encounter on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.
The win propelled the cops from Area 30 back to the driving seat on the league’s log table with 51 points from 27 games but that was not the talk in town after the game. All the talk centred on the servants’ survival chances in the 16-team league, which now look remote after the Wednesday defeat.
The servants from Capital Hill are stuck on second position from the bottom with 21 points from 25 games.
For them to survive relegation, they need to get at least six points from their remaining five games while praying that other teams do the dirty work on Premier Bet Wizards and Karonga United, who are slightly above them on the log with 26 points from 25 games and 24 points from 26 matches respectively.
Against the policemen on Wednesday, Civo fell to a 68th minute strike by Maxwell Salambula, who headed home a corner kick by Stewart Mbunge.
Coach Charles Manda tried to bring in attacking midfielder Patience Kalumo for Dan Msimuko but nothing changed as Eagles clung to their slender lead up to the final whistle.
“Our play was not bad but we failed to score and gifted Blue Eagles a goal in the second half. We had a couple of scoring opportunities in the first half but we did not take them and ended up conceding that goal after failing to defend a corner kick. We now need to fight tooth and nail in our remaining five games,” said Manda after the game.
Eagles’ team manager Gabriel Chirwa said he was happy his team was back on top after failing to do so on Sunday.
“After losing to Tigers on Sunday, we sat down and rectified our mistakes. I am happy we are back on top but the battle is still on. We are now remaining with three games against Kamuzu Barracks, Mafco as well as Nyasa Big Bullets, who are all title contenders.
“If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. That’s what we need to do in out remaining three fixtures if we are to be champions,” said Chirwa.
