Benchikha thumbs up players

DAR ES SALAAM: SIMBA Coach Abdelhak Benchikha gave credit to his players for claiming a crucial away victory over Mashujaa FC at the Lake Tanganyika Stadium in Kigoma on Saturday.

The Reds cherished a 1-0 victory courtesy of Saidi Ntibazonkiza’s spot-kick in the first half which was enough to hand them a priceless win.

“Of course, we are all happy with the victory. It was a tough match as you saw but we fought hard to win it which is very positive for us,” Benchikha said.

He then cautioned his charges to work hard and improve their performance to win all their upcoming matches.

“Each game is important to us to win, we need to be serious and approach any match seriously,” said Benchikha who is targeting to win his first major title at the helm of the club.

Tomorrow, the Reds will face Tabora United in their next away tricky league match at Ali Hassan Mwinyi Stadium in Tabora Region.

Currently, Tabora United is in the 12th position in the league courtesy of 15 points after 13 league matches.

For Mashujaa, their trainer Abdallah Barres bemoaned the lack of scoring prowess saying they will work on it to do well in their next games.

“We had scoring opportunities throughout the match but we could not manage to score, this is the problem we faced and we are going to work on it,” he said.

Barres continues to have a bumpy ride at the helm of the Kigoma envoys as the season slowly reaches its finishing line.

It was Mashujaa’s eighth defeat of the season and have collected 9 points from 13 games and they remain glued on the 15th slot of the table.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited Mzizima Derby between Simba and Azam will be played at CCM Kirumba Stadium in Mwanza on Friday.

This was disclosed over the weekend by the Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) as initially, the venue of the encounter was not confirmed.

It is an opportunity for the Mwanza football fraternity to enjoy a high-profile match in the Premier League since the region has no envoys in the top-flight league.