Two Malawi National Football Team attackers namely US-based striker Mayele Malango and Zimbabwe-based midfielder Lloyd Njaliwa scored for their respective clubs on Saturday.
Malango inspired Sacramento Republic to a 1-0 victory over Oakland Roots FC in the Prink Tires USL Cup whereas Njaliwa helped Zimbabwe’s Caps United to a 1-1 stalemate with Simba Bhora in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
According to the Republic official website, Malango scored the only goal of the match in the 19th minute. The Flames player unleashed a whipping ball past Oakland goalkeeper .
Malango was a constant threat throughout the match but the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)- born striker was not readily available for his comment yesterday.
Meanwhile, Njaliwa has scored his third goal in Zimbabwe’s Castle Lager Premier Soccer League this season.
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Njaliwa, who joined Caps after leaving Costa do Sol, scored with an acrobatic kick inside the box to give the Green Machine the lead in the 35th minute.
However, his goal was not enough to secure maximum points for Caps as Simba equalised in added time of the match through debutant Cole Tsamba.
Njaliwa said he was delighted with his performance.
“It feels great to score for the club.
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“Unfortunately, we did not get all the points but we kept on fighting for the championship,” Njaliwa said.
The draw means Caps have descended to second position on the log table, behind rookies Hard rock on goal difference as they have 27 points each.
Caps have three Malawians namely Njaliwa, striker Chawanangwa Kaonga and assistant coach Joseph Kamwendo.
Surprisingly, Kaonga was not on the bench against Simba on Saturday.
On the other hand, his compatriot and defender Lawrence Chaziya was in the starting line-up for Simba whereas goalkeeper William Thole was suspended for the match.
Malango, Njaliwa, Kaonga and Thole are expected to be part of the Flames squad for the two friendly matches against Ethiopia next month.
The Flames will face Ethiopia in Addis Ababa on June 6 before playing the second match three days later in the same city.
However, Flames coach Kalisto Pasuwa is yet to name his squad for the upcoming friendlies.
The two matches are part of preparations for the upcoming 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers in September this year.
Malawi will know their opponents when the draw is conducted in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday.
