Nabi hails solid teamwork in Azam feat

YOUNG Africans Head Coach Nasreddine Nabi hailed his charges’ solid teamwork while Azam caretaker coach Kally Ongala has given up the title chase following a 3-2 loss.

The two teams met on Sunday night in a hot Dar es Salaam Derby at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in the city as Yanga won to create a 10-point lead against Azam, who are among closest challengers of the campaign.

At a post- match briefing, Nabi opened up by showering praise on his players saying they fought hard to get the maximum points which was their number one target on the day.

“In the first half, they (Azam) dominated the midfield section making it very difficult for us to raid their territory. The double substitutions I made in the second half by introducing Tuisila Kisinda and Farid Mussa worked well because they were going inside to back-up the midfield section,” said Nabi.

He also gave credit to Azam for the way they played saying they deserved at least a point but in the end, they entirely lost the game.

On his part, Ongala openly declared that trailing league leaders by a 10-point margin means the championship is no longer within their reach saying they just need to work hard in their upcoming fixtures.

“With today’s outcome, it means we have produced two points from three games which is not a good trend for us but there are still many games coming up and we have to focus on winning all of them,” he said.

Azam, who hosted the match, were in front pedal finding the back of the net in the 27th minute through Abdul Suleiman ‘Sopu’ before Fiston Mayele levelled the matter in the 31st minute after being fed by Bernard Morrison.

Three minutes later, Stephanie Aziz Ki extended the lead for the visitors with a powerful left-foot long shot which was too hot for Azam’s shot-stopper Ali Ahmada.

However, Sopu once again plastered his name on the scoreboard in the 47th minute to balance the equation and here is when the beauty of Dar es Salaam Derby was witnessed.

In the 78th minute, substitute Farid Mussa hit the last nail on the wood to seal a hard earned 3-2 victory for the Jangwani Street side, a deserved festive season gift for their passionate fans.

It was too close for the first round score line of 2-2 to be replicated and according to statistics compiled by Azam Sports, from their 12 Premier League meetings, Yanga have won six matches against four wins stamped by Azam with two draws in between.