Young Africans SC head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has shared his thoughts on what he feels went wrong during the 2-1 defeat to Steve Barker’s Simba SC in the Kariakoo Derby on Saturday evening.
With the win, Barker has now leapfrogged Mngqithi at the top of the Tanzanian Premier League with 21 points to Young Africans’ 18. Both teams have played seven matches each.
Speaking to AzamTV after the match at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Mngqithi admitted that the forced substitution of Duke Abuya for Fred Ngoma in the 25th minute was a major contributing factor.
“No, man, I think what cost us a lot was the forced substitution of Juke [Abuya],” said Mngqithi after the match.
WHAT MANQOBA MNGQTHI SAID AFTER KARIAKOO DERBY LOSS ON SATURDAY
“When we lost Juke [Abuya], we lost control of the midfield. Even in the latter stages of the first half, we started to break down; we tried to consolidate in the second half, but unfortunately, when we lost control of the midfield, with all the substitutes that we tried to put in that space, we did not get enough.”
Young Africans opened the scoring through former Mamelodi Sundowns striker Peter Shalulile as early as the sixth minute. But Simba found the equaliser through Sundowns loanee Neo Maema in the 68th minute before Elie Mpanzu netted the winner four minutes later.
NEO MAEMA SCORES IN SIMBA SC
Mngqithi says their substitutions also gave players like Maema more space, and they punished them.
“I think for me the main reason was when we lost control of the midfield, and we started to see Neo [Maema] playing, we started to see [Nathaniel] Chilambo coming in, invading that midfield position and adding numbers.
“We were no longer as aggressive in pressing the central midfield, and I think that’s why the game was lost because even both goals were as a result of the space given in the midfield and everything developed from there.”
The win to Young Africans came after the 1-0 loss in the Tanzania Community Shield Kariakoo Derby in August. The victory will also come as a huge boost for Barker and his side in their quest to win the Tanzanian Premier League.
Both clubs will return to domestic action on Tuesday, 13 October, before shifting focus to the CAF Champions League in the upcoming weekend.
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