FANS stood up to clap all five times in the Thursday thriller they witnessed between resurgent side Caps United and boggy Bulawayo Chiefs.
By Bhora Afrika
Caps United turned on the heat to a level they had yet to reach this season in their 3-2 win at the National Sports Stadium.
Flawless passing, perfect goals and a commanding display only interrupted by Bulawayo Chiefs’ red hot Obriel Chirinda characterised a Caps United display of what had been expected since start of the Castle Lager premiership in March.
2022 Top slinger William Manondo opened the scoring with an overhead kick on 29 minutes, a goal followed by an equally good one from Chirinda at the Heroes Acre End.
Chirinda cooly rounded goalie Ashley Reyners before slotting the ball home from an acute angle in what was a rare display of skill in Zimbabwean football; only recently Dynamos striker Eli Ilunga missed twice from that angle in a one vs one situation with the same goalkeeper.
Chirinda soon turned provider, threading through a neat ball between Caps United’s defence and goal with an hour on the clock to ensure Billy Vheremu grabbed them the lead.
The usually tired legs of Devon Chafa were ready for Chirinda’s challenge and so was Caps United Captain of the day Thulani Joseph whose bossing of the midfield was incomparable.
His passes were a marvel.
Manondo came back with a low kick to equal matters before Chinyengetere’s screamer ten minutes to fulltime.
By 90 minutes the fans, who did not exceed a hundred, as the game was played at the busiest time in Harare, were shaking hands in approval.
They witnessed a rare occurrence, a five goal thriller in a league struggling for goals. The game they had just watched will probably go down as one of the best this season.
With the win, Caps United sit pretty on eighth, three points better than last season after an equal round of matches in what has been a similarly bad year for the Harare giants.