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Traditional rivals maintain unbeaten streaks in league

Azam Football Club’s Ugandan defender Nicholas Wadada goes for the ball during the Mainland Tanzania Premier League match at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam last Saturday night. Simba won 2-1. PHOTO | LOVENESS BERNARD

By  The Citizen Reporter

Media/news company

Mwananchi Communications Limited

What you need to know:

  • The NBC premiership stops to allow four clubs - Yanga, Simba, Azam FC and Namungo - to feature in the Mapinduzi Cup at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar

Dar es Salaam. As the Mainland Tanzania Premier League - a.k.a. ‘NBC Premier League’ - stops for 11 days, traditional football rivals, Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba have maintained their unbeaten run so far.

The NBC premiership stops to allow four clubs - namely: Yanga, Simba, Azam FC and Namungo - to feature in the Mapinduzi Cup matches which started at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar yesterday. The four normally compete in the annual tournament.

As per the NBC League records, Yanga have played 11 matches, winning nine and drawing two. The club has garnered 29 points, scored 20 goals, conceded four goals - and is yet to lose a match.

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The Jangwani Street club leads in the league’s standings.

Their nearest rivals, Simba SC, are placed second with 24 points after playing 10 matches, while also losing none. Simba have won seven matches, and drawn three, scoring 14 goals while conceding 4 goals. Simba do have one match in hand - against Kagera Sugar. However, even winning it would not oust Yanga from the top of the league table, as Yanga would still be having more points.

Yanga’s head coach, Nesreddine Nabi, admitted that the league is still tough, and Yanga needs to maintain its winning streak in the coming matches. Yanga’s next match will be against Coastal Union at the Mkwakwani Stadium in Tanga Region on January 16.

“We need to stretch our muscles in order to maintain our performance in the league. Every match is tough and we need to win, win, and win in order to secure the title,” said Nabi.

Simba’s assistant coach, Seleman Matola, said there is no easy match in the league and Simba needs to fight hard in order to defend the title. Simba will play Mbeya City at the Sokoine Stadium in Mbeya Region, also on January 16.

As per the league’s standings, Polisi Tanzania are placed third with 17 points, having lost two matches out of the 11 they have played. Coastal Union sit fourth after collecting 17 points from 11 matches. However, the Tanga Region-based club has scored less goals compared with Polisi-TZ.

Coastal Union scored eight goals while Polisi Tanzania scored 11. Another club in the top five is Mbeya City with 16 points from 11 games.

One of the league’s other Big Gun, Azam FC, has so far failed to maintain its last season’s status in the league. It is seventh in the current league’s standings.

Azam FC normally challenges the traditional soccer rivals in the top positions: Yanga and Simba. However, the ‘Azam’ ice-cream makers have lost four matches, collecting 15 pints from 11 matches.

The club’s head coach, Abdihamid Moalin, said they are sure to return to top form as the league goes on. Moalin - who led the team in the 2-1 loss against Simba last Saturday night - replaced Zambian coach George Lwandamina who resigned following poor results.

In the headlines