DAR ES SALAAM: SIMBA SC joined their local arch-rivals Young Africans in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals after trouncing Jwaneng Galaxy 6-0 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
Saido Ntibanzokiza, Pa Omar Jobe, Kibu Denis, Clatous Chama, Ladaki Chasambi and Fabrice Ngoma scored the goals that secured Simba’s win and cemented their position in second place in Group B with nine points.
They were behind ASEC Mimosas who had already qualified for the quarter-finals before their match yesterday evening against Wydad Casablanca.
This year marks Simba’s fourth appearance in the quarter-finals. They hope to break the scourge and advance beyond the quarter-final stage, as they did 21 years ago in the CAF Cup.
It only took seven minutes for Saido to put his team on the driver’s seat after receiving a well-weighted pass from Clatous Chama. The Msimbazi outfit doubled their lead in the 14th minute through their newly signed forward, Pa Omar Jobe, who finished off a nice passing play with Ntibanzokiza and Chama.
Simba continued to dominate the match and scored their third goal in the 21st minute through Kibu Denis, who received another assist from Chama.
Simba’s attacking line proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the visitors, with their main objective being scoring as many goals as possible.
Although Kibu Denis had the chance to score a second goal in the 25th minute, his strike was not strong enough to trouble the Jwaneng Galaxy defence line.
Chama was the star of the game, providing accurate assists and creating many scoring chances.
Simba could have scored more goals, as two of Chama’s strikes hit the woodwork in the late minutes of the first half.
Simba took a 3-0 lead in the first half and went into the second half with the same energy and focus.
Shortly after starting the second half, they launched a counterattack which Ntibanzonkiza failed to capitalize on in the 60th minute.
Finally, in the 76th minute, Chama scored a goal after a long search for one in the first half.
Not content with just four goals, Simba replaced some of their players Babacar Sarr, Kibu Denis, Ntibanzonkiza and Pa Omar Jobe with Mzamiru Yassin, Luís Miquissone, newly signed midfielder Ladaki Chasambi, and forward Michael Fred.
These substitutions paid off as Simba scored two more goals through Chasambi in the 86th minute and Fabrice Ngoma in the 89th minute, concluding the goal festival.
Meanwhile, Wydad Casablanca won 1-0 against ASEC Mimosas at Grand Stade de Marrakech in Marrakesh, Morocco yesterday.
Despite their win, Wydad Casablanca’s CAF Champions League campaign ended as they remained third with nine points, the same as Simba, who sit second.
However, Simba was superior by goal difference and had an advantage in head-to-head matches.
Simba lost 1-0 to Wydad Casablanca in Morocco but overturned the results by 2-0 in Dar es Salaam, which gave Simba the added advantage to be on top of Wydad.
Jwaneng Galaxy, Simba’s opponent completed the group campaign at the bottom with four points.
