Simba SC coach Sven Vandenbroeck has revealed his unhappiness after they were beaten 1-0 by FC Platinum in the Caf Champions League second round first leg match on Wednesday.
Perfect Chikwende scored the only goal at the National Sports Stadium in Harare to give the Platinum Miners a slight advantage ahead of the second leg set for January 5, 2021, in Dar es Salaam.
The Belgian tactician, who was missing his key striker and captain John Bocco through illness, has now said his team did not deserve to lose in the fixture because they dominated the game, especially in the first half but could not use their chances.
“I’m not happy with the results because we didn’t deserve to lose, we dominated the game especially in the first half but we didn’t have focus whilst attacking,” Vandenbroeck told the club’s social media pages after the game.
“They managed to score and now we have to be careful when we meet in the return leg.”
Next Match
The 21-time champions came into the match hoping to get at least a draw and stand a better chance of winning the second leg at home having qualified for the second preliminary round after a 1-0 aggregate win over Plateau United of Nigeria.
On the other hand, Platinum made it to the next round on a 4-1 aggregate win after eliminating Costa De Sol of Mozambique, winning the first leg played in Maputo 2-1 before claiming a 2-0 win in the return leg played in Harare.
In the absence of Bocco, Vandenbroeck preferred Rwandan striker Meddie Kagere to lead the line while keeper Aishi Manula recovered to start between the goal.
The East African outfit looked a more dangerous side but failed to capitalise on their chances. However, it was the Zvishavane-based side who scored in the 17th minute courtesy of Perfect Chikwende.
Simba intensified their attacks in the second half. In the 68th minute, Chris Mugalu teed the advancing Larry Bwalya who unleashed a good strike that was destined for the back of the net but the goalkeeper pulled a fantastic save to deny him.
Mugalu thought he had equalised in the 75th minute but the assistant referee had his flag up for offside. He then, later on, squandered a big chance when a cross from the right found him unmarked, but he narrowly missed the target.
The Tanzanian champions will now need a 2-0 win in the second leg to make it to the group stages of the annual competition.
Last season, Simba failed to make it past the preliminary stage after losing on the away goals rule to UD Songo of Mozambique.
The second leg is planned for Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on January 5 or 6, 2021.
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