Yanga urged to take Marumo Gallants seriously

05May 2023
Nassir Nchimbi
Dar es Salaam
Sport
The Guardian
Yanga urged to take Marumo Gallants seriously

WHILE Marumo Gallants is fighting for its life in South Africa's Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership, the club has been on a roll in Africa, becoming the envy of many fans in the country.

Tanzania's Yanga center-back, Dickson Job (L), challenges Nigeria's Rivers United forward, Malachi Ohawume, when the clubs took on each other in a 2022/23 CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinal rematch that took place in Dar es Salaam last Sunday. Yanga was held to 0-0 by Rivers United. PHOTO: COURTESY OF YANGA

The Limpopo-based outfit edged Egyptian moneybags Pyramids FC 1-0 in the rematch of the 2022/23 CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinals played at Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday to seal a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Marumo Gallants will now face Tanzania's Young Africans, alias Yanga, in the continental tournament semi-finals on May 10 before the reverse fixture is played at home on May 17.

The South African club has proved to be a side that should not be taken lightly although it is fighting to avoid relegation in the DStv Premiership.

Yanga is an outfit currently standing in the way of the South African side's chances to make history by qualifying for the final and being crowned the 2022/23 CAF Confederation Cup champion.

Yanga should not take Marumo Gallants lightly because until the latter had progressed to the semi-final stage, the side finished first in Group A ahead of FC Lupopo (DR Congo), USM Alger (Algeria), and Al Akhdar (Libya) in the continental tournament's Group Stage.

The Group Stage of the continental tournament had Marumo Gallants opening its campaign by beating Al Akhdar 4-1, later commanding a 2-1 victory over FC Lupopo and then losing 2-0 to USM Algers.

The South African club took revenge on USM Algeria with a 2-0 victory over the latter but ended up losing 4-1 to Al Akhdar. In the last game of Group A, Marumo Gallants beat FC Lupopo 3-2.

In the six matches that Marumo Gallants played in the Group Stage, three home matches were won- the 4-1 win over Al Akhadar, the 2-0 defeat of USM Alger, and the 3-0 drubbing of FC Lupopo.

Away from home, the South African team was beaten 4-1 by Al Akhdar and 2-0 by USM Alger, then beat FC Lupopo 2-1.

Marumo Gallants has been deadly at its home venue because it has not lost a game in the Group Stage, so Yanga has to make good use of the squad's home game to ensure that it gets a convincing win to stay in an advantageous position in the rematch.

The South African side has always won by huge margins in its home fixtures in the Group Stage. The side's 1-0 victory over Pyramids FC at home in the quarterfinal confirmed its place in the semi-finals after forcing a 1-1 draw with the Egyptian club in the first leg played in Egypt.

Marumo Gallants had, until reaching the semi-final stage, produced the top goal scorer namely Ranga Chivaviro, with the goal-getter having scored five goals equalling Congolese forward Fiston Mayele of Yanga.

Chivaviro is a dangerous attacker in Marumo Gallants, as is the case with Mayele, because, in the DStv Premiership, he has scored nine goals in 17 matches.

The Marumo Gallants forward is trailing the DStv Premiership leading goal scorer, Peter Shalulile of Mamelodi Sundowns that has netted 11 goals in 19 games this season.

Mayele is the top goalscorer in this season's NBC Premier League scoring 16 goals, followed by Zambian goal-getter Moses Phiri of Simba SC with 10 goals, as is the case with the latter's teammate Said Ntibanzokiza.

With Marumo Gallants sitting 14th in the DStv Premiership having amassed 28 points, three places from the bottom of the top flight, it is clear that the league position shows the squad is faring horribly in the domestic league.

Moroka Swallows is placed 13th in the top flight with 31 points, TS Galaxy is sitting 12th with 31 points while Richards Bay and Amazulu FC, both with 32 points, are occupying 11th and 10th spots respectively.

In that sense, the position that Marumo Gallants occupies does not reflect the side's efficiency but highlights the competitiveness of the DStv Premiership.

Marumo Gallants is making its debut appearance in the South African top flight as it was established three years ago.

In this season's CAF Confederation Cup, Marumo Gallants, despite having Chivaviro, is boasting other reliable goal-getters namely Lesiba Nku and Mpho Mvelase that have grabbed two goals apiece.

The outfit as well boasts Celimpilo Ngema, Joseph Malongoane, Letsie Koapeng, Judas Moseamedi, and Sibusiso Sibeko with each notching one goal in the showdown.

With Yanga boasting Mayele's virtuosity, the Jangwani Street squad as well as other clinical goal scorers namely Zambian Kennedy Musonda that has scored two goals, Mudathir Yahya, Farid Mussa, and Tuisila Kisinda scoring one goal each for the squad.

Marumo Gallants further takes pride in the team's goalkeeper Washington Arubi who has 20 saves, while Yanga depends on shot-stopper Djigui Diarra with nine saves.

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