By Twimepoki Mangani
FCB Nyasa Big Bullets were beaten 1-0 by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Champions, TP Mazembe in the first leg tie of the CAF Champions league second preliminary round at the well patronised Bingu National Stadium on Sunday.
The match arose to an early 50-50 affair but it was the fifth time CAF champions who only needed six minutes to break the dead lock with their second chance when Merceil Ngimbe slotted a pass to an unmarked Cheick Fofana who struck a long range effort to beat goal keeper Richard Chimbamba.
Bullets engaged an extra gear in search of the equalizer and had Patrick Mwaungulu pulling the strings to put the likes of Hassan Kajoke and Ernest petro within shooting range.
Both teams closed off the first half having amassed seven chances each with Bullets having a larger share of possession.
In the second half, Mazembe sat back as Bullets sought the equalizer with lunging attacks from Lanjesi Nkhoma, Ephraim Kondowe as well as defender Clyde Senaji.
Speaking after the match, Head Coach for FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, Kalitso Pasuwa said the game centered on experience while noting that his charges needed to give more during the performance.
“They scored in the first minutes of the game, I think we could have done better to defend the goal but after wards they tried to breach us, attempted diagonal balls but could not get chances to score.”
“We lacked movement in the attacking third, if we had more players like Mwaungulu who played their hearts out we would have dominated more,” he said.
Pasuwa highlighted current squad injuries and lack of experience as areas that affected his team however he remains optimistic ahead of the reserve fixture.
“The atmosphere in Congo is different the boys need to do more to overcome and if Mazembe can score here we can also score there,” Pasuwa said.
Meanwhile Coach for TP Mazembe, Lamine Ndiaye said the tie is far from over besides a favorable result over a good Nyasa Big Bullets side.
“We won because of our solidarity and experience of course we had a few chances but we were strong defensively as Bullets didn’t really trouble our goalie,” he said.
Lamina further said he expects a tough game in Lubumbashi but believes their supporters will give them an extra push to get the job done.
Bullets will play Mazembe in the second leg of the fixture in Lubumbashi, DRC on the 30th September where the winner of the tie will proceed to the group stages of the champions league.