FCB Nyasa Big Bullets stumbled again as the TNM Super League leaders were held to a goalless draw by Blue Eagles FC on Sunday at Nankhaka Stadium.
Kalisto Pasuwa’s side could have four points clear of second-placed Mighty Mukuru Wanderers with a victory.
It was a grisly afternoon in Area 30, and few chances opened up.
It was sloppy first half which produced a single shot on target from Bullets’ Yankho Singo but in the second half Blue Eagles saw the lion’s share of possession after settling into long stretches of blunt build-up play.
Gradually errors crept into the game, and a few chances opened up.
The best opportunity of the match came on 56th minute, when Paul Master caught Bullets’ defence out of position, and sent Tonic Viyuyi through. He might have done better one-on-one, though Richard Chimbamba was able to save the drive wide to concede corner.
At the other end, the People’s team squandered a scoring opportunity when Maxwell Gasten Phodo sent his effort direct to Blue Eagles goalie John Soko.
The Eagles saw more of the ball in the second half, but lacked the quality to break Bullets down.
By the hour, Pasuwa shook things up with a double substitution, introducing Hassan Kajoke and Stanley Billiati for Ephraim Kondowe and Lanjesi Nkhoma.
Five minutes later, Bullets keeper Chimbamba narrowly escaped embarrassment when a powerful shot from Laurent Banda slipped off his hands but he was quick to dive and catch the ball before it crossed the line.
Billiati almost scored from his second touch on 71st minute after being found unmarked inside the box by Kajoke’s flick on header but his shot was blocked by McDonald Lameck.
Despite the late introductions of Peter Banda and Blessings Mpokera for Bullets and Christopher Gototo for the Eagles, both teams looked toothless.
Blue Eagles’ last opportunity fall with just five minutes to wind up the match when Micium Mhone’s shot from freekick nearly missed the target.
Elia Kananji admitted it wasn’t an easy game “let me thank my players, they worked very hard though it has ended 0-0 we had chances to win but that’s how football is, we have accepted and we will go back and rectify some errors that we have seen today”
“It was anybody’s game, our opponents we came flat out so too Bullets but nobody got the victory and for those who came today I hope they are satisfied with the result” said Kananji
With the draw, Blue Eagles have climbed to eight from ninth as they catch Dedza Dynamos on 35 points but the Eagles are ahead thanks to their superior goal difference.
This was a third successive draw for the People’s team as they blew chances of widening the lead at the summit.
Twice they have played 1-1 draws with Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and Red Lions over the past seven days before today’s draw but Pasuwa believes it’s due to fatigue.
“it’s bad to Nyasa Big Bullets, it’s bad also considering I’ve been talking of the number of days that are given us to play football, we can’t play football in space of three days one day you recover, the other day light training and then you play” he said
Pasuwa further criticized officiating panel for failing to protect his players from getting injuries.
“We are having so many injuries you can see also the officiating that we are receiving this time around I haven’t been one person who complains about the officiating but look, all my players who got injured this year no opposition player was cautioned to an extent of having broken legs but I’m not seeing even a card given to the opposition team” he added
As it is, Bullets with 56 points they need four points from their remaining three games to win the title as that gap will see Wanderers needing 11 plus goals and six points from their remaining two games to hijack the league from Bullets.
