The Warriors secured their second consecutive victory at the ongoing HollywoodBets COSAFA Cup, defeating defending champions Zambia 2-0 in a Group B match played at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium in South Africa on Sunday.
Michael Tapera, who had scored the winning goal against Comoros in the previous week, and Takunda Benhura both found the net in the first half to give the Warriors the win over a 10-man Chipolopolo side.
The Warriors dominated the match in front of a large, enthusiastic Zimbabwean crowd, which came as no surprise given the significant Zimbabwean diaspora population residing in South Africa.
In the 8th minute of the game, Tapera collected the ball in his own half, dribbled past three Zambian players, and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring.
Zambia’s Killian Kanguluma was shown a second yellow card and subsequently sent off in the 33rd minute after he brought down McKinnon Mushore with a reckless challenge.
Benhura then compounded Zambia’s woes in the 43rd minute, doubling the Warriors’ lead with a well-taken header.
He met a pin-point cross from Farai Banda and powered his header off the crossbar and into the net.
Despite some half-hearted protests from the Zambian players that the ball had not fully crossed the line, the linesman and referee awarded the goal to Zimbabwe without any hesitation.
While Zambia did not concede any further goals in the second half, they also failed to seriously threaten the Zimbabwean goal, and coach Jairos Tapera used the opportunity to hand a debut to Joey Phuthi, who replaced Tinotenda Meke in the 78th minute.
Zimbabwe midfielder Richard Hachiro was named Player of the Match.
With the victory, the Warriors have now taken control of Group B, winning both of their opening matches.
In contrast, the defending champions Zambia are yet to register a point, having lost their first two games by an identical 2-0 scoreline, against Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe will now face Kenya in their final group-stage encounter on Tuesday, while Zambia will take on Comoros on the same day.
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