Muhammad Sulumba reaffirmed his worth at Be Forward Wanderers with a precious winning goal in the 89th minute, that sent his team to the finals of Standard Bank Cup at the expense of Blue Eagles.
Just when fans were expecting a penalty shootout, Sulumba made it significant for Wanderers with the late goal.
He lunged in from a Kondwani Kumwenda free kick to slot into the net after a lapse Eagles defence. Eagles’ keeper John Soko looked helpless. It was a composed finish from the former Blantyre United forward.
Nomads coach Elia Kananji is on course for a second major trophy after bagging the Carlsberg Cup.
“It was a match we dominated. It is a fitting result. What is encouraging is the way we played,” said Kananji.
The game itself, played at a well-patronised Civo Stadium, was full of entertaining play from the start. Wanderers deserved the victory as they were the more dominant side.
Jabulani Linje, Kondwani Kumwenda, Isaac Kaliati and Victor Nyirenda were a handful for Eagles all out through the match.
Linje had an open goal to put Wanderers in the lead in the seventh minute, but his shot was weak and ably tamed by Soko.
Nyirenda drew disappointment chorus from a contingent of Be Forward fans after failing to score from another Kumwenda fine pass.
A splash of brilliance for Eagles came in the 17th minute. Running into the box, he lunged into a John Banda pass and dribbled past three Eagles players to float the ball into the box, but an advancing Charles Ngosi failed to connect and Stanley Sanudi cleared the ball to safety.
In an interview, Eagles coach Deklerk Msakakuwona acknowledged defeat.
He said: “They (Wanderers) played well. We had some moments to score, but we were not good enough. We wish our opponents well,” said Msakakuwona.
Wanderers will now face Civo United in the finals.
Civo had it easy against Big Bullets on Thursday—winning 2-1 at Kamuzu Stadium.
