Mexime: Kagera Sugar fell into Yanga's trap

13Apr 2023
Michael Mwebe
Dar es Salaam
Sport
The Guardian
Mexime: Kagera Sugar fell into Yanga's trap

​​​​​​​KAGERA Sugar head coach Mecky Mexime has admitted that his side fell into Yanga's trap in Tuesday evening's heavy 5-0 defeat in a 2022/23 NBC Premier League match at Azam Complex Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Yanga's midfielder, Khalid Aucho (R), negotiates his way past Kagera Sugar's midfielder, Ally Nassor, in a 2022/23 NBC Premier League match held in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. Yanga wallopped Kagera Sugar 5-0. PHOTO: COURTESY OF YANGA

Yanga restored their eight-point lead at the 2022/23 NBC League summit with an ultimately commanding victory.

Nasreddine Nabi, Yanga's head coach, must have watched Simba SC close the gap with a second-half dismantling of Ihefu SC in Mbeya on Monday and demanded a response from his boys.

Kagera Sugar had lost all three of their previous meetings with Yanga but arrived in Dar es Salaam with a plan to frustrate the league's defending champions.

Kagera Sugar fullbacks- Hijjah Shamte fielded on the left and Said Naushad playing on the right- were tasked with offering protection to the backline while Ally Ramadhan operated as the central midfielder.

With Yanga's regular avenues to goal protected by a military blockade of green kits, the hosts had to rely upon a returning weapon of their own.

On his first NBC Premier League start since February, Yanga's midfielder Stephane Aziz Ki roamed around in constant search of space.

The Burkinabe midfielder scored a hat trick, with his first coming from the spot after forward Fiston Mayele wriggled into the box before being brought down.

A stubborn resolve by Kagera Sugar melted in the wake of Yanga's opener. 

Ki immediately added a second, as his 40-yard volley could only be watched by Kagera Sugar goalkeeper Said Kipao as it hit the back of the net.

Within four minutes of the restart, Kagera Sugar's beleaguered winger Eric Mwijage could not stop Mayele from taking a straight shot that crashed in at the back post. It was Mayele's 16th league goal of the season.

Just as the final 10 minutes threatened to meander towards a tame conclusion, second-half substitute Bernard Morrison made it 4-0 off an assist by Aziz Ki.

It was Aziz Ki who struck the final nail in Kagera Sugar's coffin yet again from the spot to complete his hat trick of the day.

Speaking to the press after the game, Mexime said it was a game they deserved to lose on a day their opponents overwhelmed them, having fallen right into their trap.

The coach noted: “All in all, the first thing is to congratulate the opponent, they won by many goals, we must give them due respect.

Their performance was high, they overwhelmed us... we fell into their trap, if you get caught in a trap, you end up being stabbed to death, the gaffer said.

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