HARARE – Champions FC Platinum suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Harare City to allow closest challengers Ngezi Platinum, who destroyed Shabanie Mine 5-1 at the Baobab Stadium on Wednesday, to close the gap to just one point.

Moses Muchenje converted a penalty to give Harare City the win. The result saw Ngezi Platinum taking their points tally to 51 while the league leaders remained at 52 thus setting the stage for an intriguing conclusion to the title race.

At the National Sports Stadium, Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance despite being held to a goalless draw by Yadah.

Dynamos had to finish the match with 10 men after defender Marshall Machazane was shown a straight red card three minutes from full time with referee Lazarus Dirwai adjudging that he had impeded a Yadah player in an off-the-ball incident.

Mutasa said the point gained had boosted the confidence of his team ahead of the Harare derby with CAPS United on Sunday.

He noted that while the energy level displayed by his team was not what he expected, he was happy with the overall performance.

“It’s another game which we couldn’t score and if you don’t score you don’t win games. But I’m satisfied with the overall performance of the team. The guys played well but the energy levels they displayed were not as good as we had expected,” Mutasa said post-match.

“We wanted to get three points but we managed one point and we will accept it. The point that we have gained has given us the confidence and hunger going into the Harare derby. I was not in a position to see whether Machazane deserved a red card but what I saw were Yadah players faking injuries to delay the game. For us it’s a drawback because Machazane is a key member of the team. He will miss the upcoming matches and there is nothing we can do about it.”

His counterpart Thomas Ruzive was elated to secure a point against Dynamos.

“We’re happy. Coming from a defeat against Triangle we needed to strategise against Dynamos. Our game plan was to try and frustrate them so that we get a positive result and I’m glad we got a point against them. They are a big team and we are happy with the result,” said Ruzive.

Dynamos dominated the match early in the first half with Brett Amidu missing a headed opportunity after 19 minutes following a brilliant cross from the right by Peace Makaha.

Yadah also fluffed a good chance in the second half with Brian Mapfumo blazing his effort over the bar from near the penalty area on 68 minutes.

But as Dynamos piled on the pressure on their opponents, Yadah FC began to run down the clock as they appeared content with a draw. Brian Madzokere took centre stage as he feigned injuries several times but refused to be taken out on a stretcher as he sought to kill time. He would be led out of the pitch limping but before he would be treated, he signalled to the referee to be allowed to come back onto the pitch.

Teams

Dynamos: S Chinani, P Makaha, O Mushure, M Machazane, G Mukambi, B Moyo, G Saunyama, B Amidu, (K Dhemere50’),  D Mukamba, E Mandiranga (P Mutasa 57’), T Macheke

Yadah FC: S Chimusoro, B Chikwenya, A Makopa, B Mapfumo, E Karembo, C Kaseke, (L Murape 54’), L Mavhunga, R Matema, S Sithole