Washington Arubi
Marumo Gallants are on the back foot in the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals after a 2-0 loss to Young Africans in the first-leg on Wednesday afternoon.
Gallants made three changes to the side that lost against Mamelodi Sundowns this past weekend, as they recalled Mpho Mvelase, Monde Mphambaniso and Letsie Koapeng, who joined Ranga Chivaviro up top.
The Limpopo side set their stall from deep in the early stages and they invited pressure from Yanga as Fiston Mayele nearly opened the scoring on 14 minutes charging at goal unmarked, with a low strike that was pushed out of the bottom corner by goalkeeper Washington Arubi.
Yanga kept on coming and Meyele broke through on goal seven minutes later and fired a strike that went straight down the throat of Arubi.
Gallants had space to exploit on counter-attacks and they thought they were ahead ten minutes before the interval after Katlego Otladisa found the back of the net in a one-on-one with shot-stopper Djigui Diarra but the goal was disallowed for a marginal offside.
Bahlabane Ba Ntwa competed better after that, as they did not give Yanga time and space on the ball and there were no goals in the first stanza.
Gallants had a bright start in the second stanza as within five minutes Otladisa went through on goal from a defence-splitting pass by Lucky Mohomi but his shot hit the side-netting.
The visitors continued to pose danger as five minutes later Chivaviro also broke through on goal from a splitting pass by Mphambaniso but his diagonal shot missed the far post agonisingly wide, with Diarra well beaten.
Yanga, on the other hand, were clinical with their first chance in the second stanza as Aziz Ki broke the deadlock on 64 minutes with a cracking shot into the top corner after a cut-back by Tuisila Kisinda.
The hosts made a couple of changes after that, including the introduction of former Orlando Pirates forward Bernard Morrison in place of Ducapel Moloko for fresh legs upfront.
The opened up in the closing stages as Gallants were desperate for the equaliser and an away goal but they were nearly punished in the dying minutes as Mayele was denied the second goal for Yanga by the crossbar with a looping shot at the back post.
The South African side were tempted to still commit numbers in attack and Morrison eventually got the second goal for the Tanzanian side in stoppages after he went through on goal.
Confirmed line-ups:
Young Africans: Diarra, Hamad, Mwamnyeto, Litombo, Job, Aucho, Mayele, Aziz Ki, Ducapel, Shomari, Kisinda
Marumo Gallants: Arubi, Toure, Mvelase, Gumede, Sibeko, Manaka, Otladisa, Mphambaniso, Mohomi, Chivaviro, Koapeng
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