Azam FC head coach Stewart Hall has waved the white flag in the Mainland Premier League title race after witnessing his side play out a 2-2 draw with Simba on Sunday.
Stewart Hall
Azam had to fight back from two goals down to rescue a point against dethroned champions Simba in a pulsating encounter match at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam. It looked as if Azam would surrender all three points when Simba took a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes through Ramadhan Singano.
But Hall’s side rallied thanks to goals from Kipre Tchetche and Humphrey Mieno to settle for a share of spoils. The stalemate has left Azam five points adrift of table topping Yanga who posted a resounding 3-0 win over JKT Oljoro on Saturday, with the Ice-Cream makers having also played one game more than the champion-elect.
It means Yanga will go eight points clear if they win their game on hand and Hall, who received the marching orders for allegedly uttering abusive words against referee Oden Mbaga during Sunday’s match, suggested the gap is too large to overcome with only three games remaining. Hall said only a victory would have kept their slim title hopes alive.
“I think the title is Yanga’s to lose, it is very difficult to catch them now with the existing gap, had we won today, it could be possible.” The Briton turned his focus on winning the second spot and book ticket to represent the country in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup tournament.
“Always big teams Simba and Yanga want to be in international competitions, as it stands it is difficult to overtake Yanga, therefore we should set our sights on finishing in second place so as to feature in CAF competitions,” Hall said.
Speaking about Sunday’s game against Simba, Hall said his side let in two quick goals as they were trying new system ahead of their CAF Confederation Cup, second round match against FAR Rabat of Morocco. Hall’s response was immediate after going two goals behind as he made tactical changes by sending on attacking midfielder Hamis Mcha, who replaced right full-back Luckson Kakolaki.
On his side, Simba head coach Patrick Liewig was proud of his squad, saying the mixture of young bloods and old guards once again paid dividends and believes his side deserved more from the game. Liewig conceded that his team has no chance of finishing in one of the top two positions and is now focusing on preparing a strong team for next season. Liewig once again kept faith on young players as it included a quintet of William Lucian, Abdallah Seseme, Miraji Adam, Ramadhani Singano and Haruna Chanongo in the starting line-up
Source Tanzania Daily News
