Red Arrows has clinched a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Djibouti Telecom to secure a spot in the CECAFA Cup semi-finals on Tuesday afternoon at Kigali Memorial Complex.
From the outset, Arrows exhibited attacking intent, with an early effort by striker Godfrey Ngwenya forcing a corner in the 6th minute. Alassane Diarra’s attempt from a set-piece went wide, but the Zambian side had already made their presence felt with three attempts on goal within the first quarter-hour.
Despite their dominance, the scoreboard read 0-0 at the 15-minute mark. The match saw an evenly contested build-up, with both teams vying to break the deadlock. However, it was the Airmen who found the breakthrough in the 21st minute. Ngwenya delivered a well-placed corner kick, allowing Anthony Shipanuka to rise above the defence and head the ball into the net, sending Arrows fans into jubilation.
Djibouti Telecom, determined to respond, had their second attempt at goal in the 28th minute, but the effort sailed wide. Arrows continued to press, and a promising one-two between James Chamanga and Diarra in the 32nd minute almost doubled their lead, but Diarra’s final touch failed to find the back of the net.
As halftime approached, Djibouti Telecom made a double substitution, bringing on Zouber Mohamed Merneh for Abdillahi Youssouf Elmi and Mahdi Houssein Mahabe for Ntirwaza Sudi in the 40th minute. However, the halftime whistle blew with the scoreline unchanged.
The second half began with Arrows making strategic changes. Saddam Yusuf Phiri replaced Diarra, and Cedrick Onyumbe came on for Thomas Zulu. Happy Nsiku, whose performance stood out, showcased his potential and importance to the team.
In the 75th minute, Red Arrows executed a triple substitution, introducing Ciel Ebengo Ikoko, Brian Chilimina, and Ricky Banda, while Ngwenya, Chamanga, and Nsiku were withdrawn. Notably, Nsiku was taken off after receiving a yellow card.
The match grew increasingly physical, with Djibouti Telecom earning five yellow cards by the 80th minute.
Ricky Banda’s header was ruled offside, and Saddam’s classic finish in the 82nd minute suffered the same fate.
As the clock wound down, Arrows intensified their efforts, keeping the Djibouti defence under constant pressure. Despite two goals being ruled offside, the Airmen maintained their composure and discipline.
The match concluded with Arrows maintaining their slim lead. Anthony Shipanuka was named Man of the Match for his decisive goal and received a reward of 300,000 Shillings.
In an interview with the media, Arrows Coach Chisi Mbewe expressed happiness over the victory but noted the need to score more goals ahead of their semi finals match.
“It’s something that we need to work on because we created so many chances and only managed to score one, I think we are still preparing, we are still sharpening the team, I think with time we will improve and start scoring goals. We didn’t want to sprain ourselves because we are still in the preseason so I think we were a bit cautious and we wanted this victory so we had planned that if we score we need to be a bit cautious so that we close and administer and to keep the victory so we are happy that, that’s what happened this afternoon,” said Mbewe.
“I think we need to improve more, I think [there are] certain phases of the game that we need to improve, I think we created so many chances in this game but we only managed to score one, so going forward we need to ensure that the chances that we create, we need to score more than one or two goals, otherwise we are happy that we have qualified to the semi finals”.
Red Arrows’ victory propels them into the CECAFA Cup semi-finals against Al Wadi on Friday, where they will look to continue their impressive form and challenge for the title.
