Lawrence Chaziya struck in the 87th minute to earn a 2-2 draw for Malawi national football team in their final group D match of African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea.
The visitors looked to have completed a stunning turnaround when Saidou Sow fired past substitute Clever Nkungula to give them the lead 13 minutes into the second half, moments after Mohamed Ali Camara’s strike from outside the box made it 1-1 at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The Flames were leading 1-0 at halftime courtesy of Robert Saizi’s 23rd minute strike.
“Let’s be honest, we never came to the party,” said Flames coach Patrick Mabedi during post-match interview.
Mabedi added: “Our expectations were a little bit higher but I think we need also to understand we are in a process of building but overall, I am not impressed with the way we played, we supposed to manage the game very well but we didn’t play well mainly because we never kept possession a lot and we gave away balls so many times”
The Flames mentor further rued his team’s wasted chances in the first half and the injury to goalkeeper Brighton Munthali as reasons for their failure to beat Guinea.
Richard Mbulu and John Banda returned into Flames’ first eleven after missing COSAFA Cup tournament in July whereas left-back Tatenda M’balaka was handed his senior debut.
The Flames created first clear chance in the match just after five minutes when Mbulu was found in one-on-one situation with Guinea goalkeeper Aly Keita but the Costal do Sol man sent his effort wide.
Two minutes later, Camara came closer to give Guinea the lead through freekick from the edge of the box which Munthali cleared for corner.
Saizi broke the deadlock on 23rd minute with a fine finish inside the box when he slotted in a Lanjesi Nkhoma cross which deflected off Guinea defender.
Munthali rescued the Flames again after half an hour when he denied Guinea twice, first saving a shot inside the box before clearing another attempt by Issiaga Sylla a minute later, an incident that led to his injury but he continued after medical assistance.
Five minutes later, captain John Banda could have doubled the lead when he made good run from deep midfield and unleashed a volley from the edge of the box but Guinea goalkeeper Kone stretched to tip the ball over the bar for corner to Malawi.
The last 10 minutes of the opening half saw Flames ceasefire and managed to contain pressure by the West Africans until half time.
The Flames were forced to make a change at the beginning of second half when goalkeeper Clever Nkungula replaced injured Brighton Munthali.
On the other hand, the visitors made double substitutions as Seydouba Cisse and Ilaix Moriba came on for Morlaye Sylla and Ibrahuna Cissie. The changes woken Guinea up and they started piling pressure on flames forcing them to stay deep in their half.
Mohamed Ali Camara levelled the scores in the 56th minute when he curled in a powerful left footer from the right edge of the box to beat Nkungula in goals for Flames.
Two minutes later the Guineas were into the lead courtesy of Saidou Sow’s tap in from a rebound after a Mouctar Diakhaby’s cross hit the post.
The two quick goals worsen things for the Flames who looked disjointed and purposeless.
Mabedi brought in Wisdom Mpinganjira and Christopher Kumwembe for Lanjesi Nkhoma and Richard Mbulu on 64th minute but Guinea continued to dominate the match.
With 10 minutes left, Mabedi made another double substitution as Francisco Madinga and Peter Banda were introduced for Tatenda M’balaka and Lloyd Aaron.
Lawrence Chaziya equalized on 88th minute with a close-range header from Saizi’s corner-kick to force a draw.
The Flames have finished third in Group D with 5 points and failed to qualify for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, so too are the Ethiopians who finished bottom with 4 points.
The two top teams in the group are Egypt who qualified with 15 points and Guinea with 10 points.
PICTURE SOURCE: FAM
