Coach Mabedi not to leave anything to chance in last group match against Comoros

Scorer of second goal Christopher Kumwembe

* He maintained his winning team that beat defending champions Zambia

* We just have to go all the way and beat Comoros in the last match

Maravi Express

With six points in the bag after beating Seychelles 2-0 in the Confederation of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) Cup underway in South Africa, the Flames top Group B having won 1-0 in the opening match against defending champions, Zambia.

They remain with a game away to reach the semifinals in which they just need a draw against Comoros, who lost 1-2 to Zambia rendering the race wide open to the three teams.

Coach Patrick Mabedi — who did not change his winning team against Zambia — takes cognizance that the battle is far from over, saying: “We just have to go all the way and beat Comoros in the last match.”

With Seychelles eliminated having lost their first game against Comoros, the last matches will decide who wins the group and a draw for the Flames against Comoros will be enough.

In a case of a loss to Comoros and in the event that Zambia beat Seychelles, all the three teams will have six points each — meaning the winner will have to be determined by head-to-head.

However, in this case head-to-head will not be enough since each of the three would have beaten the other — therefore, the winner would be decided through goal difference.

A report on Fam.mw says coach Patrick Mabedi maintained the first XI that stunned Zambia 1-0 last week that had Black Leopards-bound goalkeeper Brighton Munthali, who has a clean sheet, starting alongside defenders Stanley Sanudi, Nickson Mwase, Dennis Chembezi and Alick Lungu.

Impressive defending midfielder Lloyd Aron, gifted attacking midfielder Chimwemwe Idana were thrown in supported in the wings by Robert Saizi on the right and Lanjesi Nkhoma on the other.

Upfront man of the match Chawanangwa Kaonga and Christopher Kumwembe got the green light.

The report emphasized that the victory over Seychelles did not come on a silver platter as the islanders proved a formidable opponent as by maintaining their discipline at the back and threatening when counter attacking.

The Flames, who looked desperate for a goal, were frustrated several times as Seychelles packed the bus, leaving no opening and at half time, the Flames had registered just two shots on target while 10 went wide.

The second half saw the Flames much relaxed and taking their time on the ball to draw out their opponents. The patience paid off in the 55th minute when Nkhoma headed home after some good work from Zanaco attacker Kaonga, who sent a lovely cross into the box.

Ten minutes later, Kumwembe doubled the lead from a rebound at close range after Seychelles goalkeeper fumbled Nkhoma’s thunderbolt.

From then on it was the Flames all over as they exchanged neat passes to the delight of Durban based Malawians who again flocked to the stadium to cheer their team to the end.