Civil Service United sealed a 4-0 win over Mzuzu City Hammers on Saturday at Civil Stadium in Lilongwe, to booked their place in the 2025 Airtel Top 8 Semifinals.
The Match followed a barren draw in the quarter finals first leg between the two sides at the hammers back yard in Mzuzu on April 21, 2025.
The Servants produced a composed and disciplined performance to see to settle the tie early and a vital cushion that has made them final four for the first time in five years.
Precious Chipungu’s produced a header that narrowly missed the target after the right winger had spooned it inside in the 9th minute.
In a massive counter attack, Civil broke the deadlock a minute later.
Civil’s Dastan Banda made amends, latching onto a perfectly-weighted pass from Blessings Malinda giving the Servants a 1 -0 lead.
Mzuzu City Hammers nearly leveled in the 15th minute when Chimwemwe Chunga ran past three Civil defenders from the right but his shot went over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Civil goalkeeper Rahaman John, formerly a midfielder, punched the ball clear but suffered a minor injury in the process.
Not so long, Khumbo Mhone was shown a yellow card after he slid with a tackle on hammers captain Yasin Rashid.
Threatened by lack of attacking tacticks, the visitors instilled their first substitution in the 23rd minute, slotting in Samson Olatibosun who replaced Samson Amos.
As if it was an open fire, Civil piled continuous pressure on hammers which broke their defense.
Malinda opened fire from a distance, while Righteous Banda whipped in a low cross that lacked a final touch.
In the 36th minute Muhammad Biason doubled the lead after settling the ball home when he got a super assist from Malinda.
Four minutes later, Malinda hit a powerful strike beating Hammers’ goal keeper Eddie Jamu to make it 3-0 before the half time.
Remontada characterized the second half as Mzuzu seemed to be in an attacking spree but their strikers failed to utilize a few chances they got.
Biason missed an opportunity to bag his second from a Chipungu cross, and a quick counter from Mzuzu also fell flat as Isaiah Nyirenda’s pass to Olatibosun failed to connect in the 53rd minute of the match.
Civil removed Chipungu and replaced him with Chikaiko Batison, while Mzuzu inserted Pearson Mbizi for Chawanangwa Mkandawire.
The ball went slippery on Jamu into the box, but Civil failed to materialize even though there were three attackers in position.
Biason was substituted in the 69th minute, making way for Damiano Kunje.
Peter Ng’ambi was also given a yellow card for a deliberate handball outside the penalty area. However, Olatibosun’s resulting free-kick was saved by Rahaman John.
Mzuzu made its fourth change in the 77th minute, taking out Gerald Ngwira for Moses Gwayi.
Civil were unceasingly posing threat in the last minutes of the match. In the 90+3rd minute, Hammer goalkeeper made a dangerous foul that saw Kunje whipping it in to seal a 4-1 victory.
Blessings Malinda, who gave Civil a confident lead with his goal and provided two assists, was named player of the Match.
In an interview after the match, Civil coach Abbas Makawa hailed his charges for a gigantic performance.
He said; “We told the boys to finish the game in the first half. I just encouraged them to enjoy the match and create scoring chances.”
Mzuzu City Hammers’ Team Manager, Lazarus Nyemera, described the 4-nil margin as an embarrassing defeat.
Airtel Top 8 action continues on today as Moyale Barracks host Silver Strikers, who thrashed the soldiers 1-0 in the first leg at Silver Stadium.
By Herbert Katanda
