Key talking points from Yanga’s exit from the CAF Champions League

Yanga have crashed out of the CAF Champions League on the hands of Township Rollers after playing a goalless draw in Gaborone, Botswana.

The Jangwani Boys who were defeated 2-1 in the first leg which was held in Dar es Salaam on March 6 have now fallen into the CAF Confederation Cup and they will await the draw which will be held on Mach 26.

Following their exit, Goal looks back on some of the main talking points from the match.

The decision to leave out Ajib “didn’t work”

George Lwandamina decided to drop Ibrahim Ajib on the bench aimed at adding speed and pace upfront by giving a starting chance to Yusuph Mhilu. 

However that decision di not to work as planned because the young star was far from his best and gave the ball away too often.

Yanga struggled in terms of ball possession especially in the final third leaving Obrey Chirwa with the big hole to fill alone, the introduction of Ajib in the second half helped Yanga and they started to keep the ball and create some chances which was rare before Ajib touched the pitch.

Failure to use home ground cost Yanga

In the post-match conference Yanga skipper Nadir Haroub “Cannavaro” said that they committed a mistake by not winning in the first leg when they played at home.

I agree with the skipper, in this kind of game you have to use your home ground well by getting good results. Yanga were defeated 2-1 at home and that was the end of the game.

Vicente Andrew “Dante” return a boost for Lwandamina

It was a decent performance from the center back who was sidelined in the last ten games because of an ankle injury.

His presences in the back line gave Yanga a life support and now Lwandamina will breathe well ahead of their big clash with their arch rival Simba in Ligi Kuu.  

He won nearly every aerial duel and made some important blocks and interceptions throughout the game.

Gadiel Michael has struggled again

In the first leg clash which was held in Dar es Salaam, the left-back was one of the players who disappointed and in this game he disappointed again. 

He has every potential to become the long term left-back for club and National team but this is not the kind of performance which he needs to rely on.

Youthe Rostand shows his quality

The first game was dominated by the controversial decision made by Lwandamina to leave out Youthe Rostand and giving a chance to teenager Ramadhan Kabwili. 

Before that match, Rostand had a poor spell were by he conceded awful goals in the Ligi Kuu games. But the decision to leave him out in the first leg tie with Rollers was not right and it costed the team.

Lwandamina did not repeat the same mistake and he restored the experienced goalkeeper in the goal and surely he did show his quality by keeping the hosts at bay.