Young Africans (Yanga SC) maintained their perfect start to the season after edging out JKT Tanzania 1-0 in a Mainland Premier League match played at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Saturday.
The Jangwani giants came into the match knowing a win will see them stretch their lead at the top of the 18-team league table and they did exactly that when Deus Kaseke scored the all-important goal in the 33rd minute.
Yanga coach Cedric Kaze made changes to the starting eleven after midfielder Carlos Carlinhos was ruled out of the match forcing him to start Mukoko Tonombe while goalkeeper Metacha Mnata, who was the hero after saving a late penalty against Namungo FC, was preferred to start between the sticks.
The Timu ya Mwananchi went all out for a win and in the opening five minutes, they had attacked JKT Tanzania goalkeeper with a string of shots, but the score still remained 0-0.
Kaseke, who scored the winning goal against Azam FC, then stepped up to snatch the opener in the 33rd minute after finishing off a pass from Yacouba Songne.
Yanga went into the half-time break enjoying a 1-0 lead and after the resumption, despite their efforts to add another goal, they could not do so as JKT’s defence frustrated their strikers.
The win has now seen Yanga stretch their lead at the top of the log to 31 points, while Azam are second on 25, and champions Simba SC, who are away in Nigeria to play Plateau United in a Caf Champions League match, are third on 23 points.
The win also saw Yanga maintain their unbeaten start to the season while also extending coach Kaze’s unbeaten run since joining the team after replacing fired Serbian Zlatko Krmpotic, to five matches.
Kaze admitted afterwards that his team should have won the tie by a big margin but said the most important thing was to collect maximum points.
“It was a match we deserved to win by a huge margin because we dominated proceedings from the onset but it could not be the case, but one thing I am happy about is to get all the points," the Burundian tactician told reporters.
“It is very important to win our matches and JKT tried to close us down especially when we tried to surge forward, we are happy with the 1-0 win because we have three points from it, but we will work to improve on our finishing in the next assignment.”
In other matches, Dodoma Jiji won the battle of promoted sides as they beat Ihefu FC 3-0 with a double from Seif Karihe and one goal from Agustino Samson.
Meanwhile, Mbeya City and Mtibwa Sugar settled for a 0-0 draw.
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)
