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Lethargic Yanga SC suffer shock defeat to KMC in friendly
The Jangwani Street-based giants failed to impress their fans after going down to fellow league mates in a build-up contest
Young Africans (Yanga SC) suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat against KMC in a friendly played at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.
Both teams were using the build-up to gauge their players ahead of the Mainland Premier League resumption on June 13 after it was given the green light by President John Pombe Magufuli.
KMC were the better side from the onset as they troubled Yanga, who looked out of place, but it took the former until the 45th minute to take a deserved lead when Sadala Lipangile slotted home using his right foot.
KMC then doubled their lead in the added minutes of the first half when Charles Ilanfya latched onto a through-ball to sneak it past Yanga keeper Metacha Mnata for a 2-0 lead at the half-time break.
After the resumption, Yanga’s assistant coach Boniface Mkwasa opted to ring a few changes to help reduce the deficit but KMC remained the dominant side and they wrapped up the win with a well taken free-kick courtesy of Hassan Kabunda in the 65th minute.
Before the game, Mkwasa had told reporters his target was to triumph in the friendly so as to help bring back a winning mentality ahead of their first match on June 14.
“I know it will be a tough match since [KMC] are among the good sides in the league but we are well prepared to win and bring back winning mentality to players,” Mkwasa told reporters earlier.
“It will give us an opportunity to see the balance of the team and where we should fix the problems before heading to the battlefield next week.”
Mkwasa further revealed his side was ready to navigate the congested fixtures when the season resumes, saying they have a huge squad to pick from and hence can rotate.
“As you know, we gave individual training sessions to be accomplished by players at their own homes when the league was suspended but that is not enough to make them fit for competitive games that is why we thought of playing friendly encounters to assess the players,” Mkwasa continued.
“We also need to get prepared with the many fixtures coming up and know how to rotate the squad, and this friendly will help us a lot.”
Yanga will face Mwadui FC in their first match on June 14.
