Ex-Orlando Pirates striker Justin Shonga on Saturday ended his three-month drought after leading his Zambian club Nkwazi to victory against fellow strugglers Chambishi FC.
Shonga scored the solitary goal in Nkwazi’s 1-0 away win over fellow relegation battlers Chambishi at Nkana Stadium in Kitwe.
The Chipolopolo Zambia striker poked in the ball in a goal-mouth scrum in the 9th minute. But Shonga did not complete the match and came off in the 67th minute.
Nkwazi not only completed a double over Chambishi this season but also saw lightning strike twice for Shonga. The lanky forward scored the opener in last October’s first-leg fixture that Nkwazi won 2-0 at home in Lusaka.
JUSTIN SHONGA GETS FIRST GOAL FOR 2023
Saturday’s goal was Shonga’s first in 2023, and one has to go back to December 3, 2022, to trace the last time the ex-Cape Town City FC striker found the back of the net.
On that date, Shonga scored Nkwazi’s final goal in the second half of a 3-0 home win over relegation threaten side Lumwana Radiants in Lusaka.
Shonga has now taken his tally of the 2022/2023 season to 6 goals from 20 games since rejoining Nkwazi last September, six years after he left the Lusaka-base club to join Pirates.
Meanwhile, Nkwazi currently occupies the top half of the bottom-four relegation zone on the FAZ Super League table.
Nkwazi is tied on 28 points with the Chambishi, who are just below them at number 16 in the two side’s battle for survival with eight games left to play.
MULENGA NURSING AN INJURY
Elsewhere on the same day, ex-Amazulu midfielder Augustine Mulenga missed his side Napsa Stars’ 1-0 away win over Kabwe Warriors due to injury.
Striker Lazarus Kambole and goalkeeper Cyril Chibwe were in action on Sunday for Zesco United. The match started on Saturday away to Kansanshi Dynamos but was halted at halftime due to heavy rain.
Zesco were one-down at the point when the match was rescheduled for a second-half kickoff on Sunday. On Sunday, they failed to level scores, losing 1-0.
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