Silver Strikers survived a Blue Eagles scare as they claimed a 2-1 victory and returned to the top of the TNM Super League log table at Bingu National Stadium Sunday.
The win propelled Silver back to the top of the 16-member table with 32 points from 16 matches, at par with second-placed Chitipa United, who defeated Karonga United 2-0 in another match at Karonga Stadium.
Silver have a better goal difference of 15 against Chitipa’s seven.
Chinsinsi Maonga opened the scoring in the 32nd minute of the match.
However, Chinsinsi appeared to be in an offside position when he chested the ball down before firing a powerful shot beyond goalkeeper Chakonda Majanga.
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In the second half, Silver doubled the lead through substitute Stain Davie, who replaced injured Atusaye Nyondo.
Davie tapped in a rebound after Majanga had saved Adriel Kaduya’s attempt in the 70th minute.
However, four minutes later, Lanken Mwale pulled a goal back from a rebound after Silver goalkeeper Pilirani Mapira saved a Christopher Gototo attempt.
Eagles continued to pile pressure on the hosts in the closing stages of the match.
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It was a tense finish for Silver as Eagles threw everything into attack.
But the major talking point of the match was when Eagles had a penalty appeal turned down after a Silver player appeared to have handed the ball in the box.
Instead, the officiating panel awarded a free kick on the edge of the box.
Eagles players and the officials were furious.
Gototo took the free-kick and hit the right frame of the goal post.
After the final whistle, Eagles players tumbled to the surface in disbelief.
The mood was different on the part of Silver as they celebrated the first win of the second round and a double over Eagles this season.
Uchizi Vunga of Silver was named man-of-the-match.
Relief was the prevalent emotion on the part of Silver coach Pieter de Jongh after the final whistle.
“It was a good game and the players showed great character,” he said.
Eagles Assistant Coach Christopher Sibale was not happy with the officiation.
“I think officiation left a lot to be desired. I do not want to talk a lot but we saw what happened,” Sibale said.
Elsewhere, Chitipa got the better of Karonga, thanks to Ramadhan Mtafu and China Chirwa goals.
