The match outcomes and, indeed, the patterns of play, left the much-fancied veteran quarterfinalists of the CAF Champions League, Simba SC, in an unenviable underdog position, not firstly in the competition itself but more so in its local translation.
Yanga was on cloud nine, by contrast, as Simba SC fans searched for answers for an underwhelming performance.
The confidence at the Jangwani Street outfit was so high that, after the two results were known and interviews started with key officials, Yanga's majordomo Ali Kamwe dared to appeal ‘to whom it may concern’ on what to do if one has a weak team.
He should, on no account, think of sending buses with large numbers of fans to support the team if it plays across the border, as there is a risk of heart attack incidence and things like that.
In other words, Yanga was assured it had a winning side and thus dared fill dozens of buses to Kigali, so that the rivals forget it.
A few pundits were available to remind readers that the Al Merrikh side that Yanga played in Kigali was not the same as the side we usually hear of in Sudan, owing to the sad events going on in that country.
Chroniclers say the side has lost the entire batch of international players except for a South Sudanese national and a Colombian journeyman, in which case it could, by and large, be compared to Vipers SC in Uganda which has few international players.
In other words, if the Jangwani Street side had played the same Al Merrikh, and in the same fervour of a city stadium in Khartoum, chances of a 2-0 victory would be next to nil.
The surprising aspect about the local outfits' weekend results in CAF inter-club competitions, at least for the city rivals, was that the outcomes were the opposite of what was being billed for.
No one had any results in the pocket so to speak, but it was easy to expect that it would be the number nine club in Africa, or something of the sort, which was going to have it easy, while pundits were more eagerly and, in a concerned way, weighing up Yanga’s chances in its away match.
Contrary to expectations, with the busloads of fans and an unexpected turnout of Kigali fans of the local giants, it was the home team. Add the match to their winning streak, and it worked.
Analysts were thus left to focus on the pluses and minuses of the two coaches, the pluses piled on the tactics of Yanga's Miguel Angel Gamondi and the minuses heaped on Roberto Oliveira, alias Robertinho.
As the two coaches come from acutely rival nations at the level of soccer, Argentina and Brazil respectively, it may have dawned at least on themselves that it was a carry-over of an ancient contest, but this was not reflected in local FM radio stations' discussion or the streets.
Coaching is individual and scarcely does one hear that either this or that coach used say either Dutch tactics or England tactics as it was in the 1970s and a while later. At that time countries had traditions.
While the big impression was that Yanga was tactically playing cohesively and with great determination, while Simba SC played as individuals and without much zest, the reason was to find out why.
Some of the reasons being offered were outwardly convincing but so much at loggerheads with intuition that one had to scurry around for a reason to accept such explanations.
One was that Simba SC had made a great effort to retain players, giving them a sense of being assured of belonging to the club.
That amounted to affirming that rough tactics like those applied to wage-raising demanders like Feisal Salum and perhaps Juma Shabani were especially laudable from an administrative point of view.
It means that no player should feel special or indispensable, and must always strive to please the club and the coach, come what may, a sort of wisdom that before the 2-0 win over the Sudanese side would have looked strictly out of place.
They say in English that ‘winner takes all’, thus the Jangwani Street side at present has advantages in players, coaching, and leadership.
The Msimbazi Street side was unconvinced by their performance and plenty of the blame was being laid on relative newcomer Jean Baleke and, on the third day, the fans were being told that he had promised a basketful of goals in the return match.
That means the chances he is blamed for having wasted will this time be turned to goals, apparently because this is what the fans are demanding, despite that the coach would arguably be more reticent to hammer on the table that the scoring chances be converted into goals.
It, though, must finally be admitted that the Msimbazi Street side left Dar es Salaam on the back of ninth position in Africa, and it almost came unstuck, having to come from behind to level the score, twice.
Still, it is clear that this vendetta will not be laid to rest till the next round, if all goes well for both.
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