HOLDERS Simba suffered huge blow in their quest to retain the league title after being held to a 1-1 draw by battling Azam FC in thrilling Premier League match at Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.
The draw put a dent to Simba's glimmer hopes of catching high-flying Young Africans, who now boast a 10-point gap on top of the table. The result took Simba's tally to 50 points, while Yanga have amassed 60 points after 24 outings each. Azam, who are chasing a topfour finish, remains in fifth place with 33 points after 24 games.
Namungo FC occupy third place with 36 points, with Geita Gold in fourth place on 34 points with six games left to complete the season. In yesterday's encounter, Azam came first on the scoresheet through Rodgers Kola, who completed Lusajo Mwaikenda's assist before Simba's skipper John Bocco finished Shomari Kapombe's freekick.
The first half began with a lot of intense where Azam made their first attempt through Sospeter Bajana, who fired in the box a minute after the kick-off, but Aishi Manura's stood firm and stopped the attack.
Simba would have scored in the 23rd minute through Pape Ousmane Sakho's wicked long-range strike that passed Azam goalkeeper Ahmed Ali Salula but hit the woodwork.
Azam responded in the 26th minute when Prince Dube had a clear opportunity to score as he attempted to complete Rodgers Kola set through. Still, Simba's goalkeeper Aishi Manula stood firm to save. In the 38th minute, Simba's midfielder Mzamiru Yassin fouled Azam attacking Keneth Muguna, who attempted to break through Simba's defence line.
Azam picked the foul, and Muguna bent a lovely freekick, but Manula stood firm and saved. After several attempts, Azam registered an open goal through Kola in the 38th minute, completing Mwaikenda's head assist. In the quest to find the opening goal Kola suffered injuries that left the coach to replace him with Shaban Chilunda in the 39th minute. After the goal, Simba shipped several attempts to Azam.
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Following the attempts, Azam skipper Aggrey Morris fouled Simba's skipper Bocco. The referee awarded Simba a freekick well sculptured by fullback Kapombe and ended well with a powerful header from Bocco that passed Azam's goalkeeper Ahmed Ali Salula and gave Simba an equalizing goal before the first half ended.
Bocco is scoring his third goal in the three games; he has played recently since returning to the pitch after sustaining a long-term injury.
The second half started with Simba sending an attack through Sakho, who fired a fierce shot but went high. Azam responded with double attempts in the 61st and 63rd minutes through Dube and Chilunda, but both did not give Azam fruits as Manula calmly saved both shots.
Simba grabbed another attempt in the 76th minute through Peter Banda, where despite being in the open chance to score, Azam goalkeeper Ahmed Ali Salula stood firm to prevent the danger.
