Blue Eagles’ acting Head Coach, Christopher Sibale, has said his team is still hoping for a top four finish despite posting two consecutive losses in the TNM Super League.
The team’s poor showing in the elite league continued after they went down 2-1 to fellow capital city side, Civil Sporting Club, at Nankhaka Stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday.
Eagles also lost to Red Lions by a similar margin a week before the Civil encounter.
Loss of concentration towards the end of their games is slowly becoming a problem for Eagles, having lost two games in similar fashion as they seem to celebrate early before the final whistle.
With two games remaining, Eagles remain static on position six with 41 points whereas Civil moved to position four on the log table with 45 points from 28 games.
But Sibale blamed the two results on the absence of several key players due to injuries.
“We are depleted, especially in defence, because of injuries. We are improvising some midfielders to play as defenders. This has not been helping us because the midfielders need time to get used to playing in defence.
“But we have not lost hope of finishing in the top four. Anything can happen in the remaining two games. We should not be counted out yet,” Sibale said.
Civil Team Manager, Gabriel Chirwa, said his players managed to get the result because of their fighting spirit.
“Our target was to finish in the top eight. So, finishing in the top four would be a bonus,” Chirwa said.
Civil scored in stoppage time as substitute Chisomo Mbozanani tapped in a Raphael Phiri cross to ensure maximum points for Civil.
The civil servants grabbed the opener through Righteous Banda after six minutes in the first half but the hosts equalised through Captain Micium Mhone.
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