WE WERE PATHETIC! CELTIC DEFEAT IRKS MUMAMBA

MTN Super League promoted side Kafue Celtic yesterday beat ZESCO United 2-0 in what is so far one of the most shocking results of the 2021/22 league season.

On paper this was a fixture that ZESCO United were expected to effortlessly win considering the quality of arsenal that coach Numba Mumamba had assembled for the week five encounter staged at the Edwin Mboela stadium.

ZESCO United came into yesterdays fixture without the services of Kelvin Kampamba, Solomon Sakala, Dickson Chapa, Gregory Sanjase and Simon Silwimba who joined the Zambia National team ahead of the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Equatorial Guinea.

One surprising omission from Mumamba’s first XI was the absence of Kenyan International goalkeeper, Ian Otieno who had been replaced by third choice goalkeeper Samson Banda.

At the back, Adrian Chama, Clement Mwape, Samson Mkandawire and John Chishimba had the task of protecting Banda between the sticks.

Tafadzwa Rusike, John Ching’andu, Thabani Kamusoko and Mukuka Chanda were tasked with the responsibility to dictate matters in the middle of the park.

Chitiya Mususu and veteran striker Winstone Kalengo led the charge upfront for the visitors.

The first 45’ minutes saw ZESCO United dominate proceedings as per script unfortunately the league champions could not unlock a resilient Celtic defense that grew a lot more in confidence as the half progressed.

Kafue Celtic had one secret to their game plan. Defend as a unit and catch ZESCO United on the break largely using fast paced wingers who proved very effective.

In the 29’ minute Kafue Celtic surged forward catching the ZESCO United defense on the backfoot with Chibesa powering through a beautiful cross with Banda committing, leaving the goalmouth gaping for Christopher Bwalya to tap in one of the easiest of goals to give the hosts the lead.

That goal gave Kafue Celtic confidence in a game which they hardly expected to survive beyond 20’ minutes of the half.

Seeing his sides ineffectiveness in front of goal and injuries to Chama and Rusike, Mumamba introduced Willard Nkausu and Edward Lungu.

With only three minutes in the game, Edward Lungu surged forward and a lovely interchange of passes between Kalengo and the former led to an equalizer which was overruled for an offside.

The second half did not provide any effective reaction from the visitors with Celtic looking the hungrier of the two sides.

Richard Daka scored the hosts second goals through a powerful header beating Banda at the far post.

Kafue Celtic confidently managed the game to its conclusion inflicting a painful first  defeat of the season on the league champions.

Mumamba expressed disappointment with his sides performance: “Very disappointing result, I think the team didn’t play to the expectations of everyone. We failed to account ourselves on the pitch because we underrated our opponents and our opponents capitalized on that.”

We came back with the same attitude in the second half which costed us too. We were late in attacking the ball. The overall performance of the team was pathetic.”

The ZESCO United gaffer wants to see change in the team’s attitude when the Ndola based league giants face Kansanshi Dynamos on Saturday.

“It has to start with individual attitude. Our attitude was very wrong on the pitch. This is not the ZESCO United we know. We have beaten better teams than the team we faced today. It is a matter of working on our attitude.”

Meanwhile Mumamba disclosed that Kenyan International goalkeeper Ian Otieno and Striker, Jesse Were found themselves out of the team due to disciplinary matters.

“We left the two guys due to discipline issues otherwise they are both fine. Discipline is very key to everyone. I think when we have a backlog of games everyone must be at their best in terms of behavior. That’s why we left the other two guys because they were not looking after themselves very well. We decided to leave them out so that we instill discipline in the team,” Mumamba added.

ZESCO United will be hoping to bounce back from yesterdays defeat with a victory against Kansanshi Dynamos in a game scheduled for the Levy Mwanawasa stadium on Saturday.

Author: Desmond Katongo