Mwaruwari upbeat despite first defeat as Ngezi coach – NewZimbabwe.com

By Sports Reporter

FORMER Warriors striker Benjani Mwaruwari insists there is no need to panic after he suffered his first loss as Ngezi Platinum Stars coach following a 1-0 defeat against Harare City at Baobab Stadium on Saturday.

After beating ZPC Kariba away from home last weekend, Ngezi were eager to collect maximum points against Harare City which would have moved them into the top four on the league table.

However, their promising run under Mwaruwari came to end after a surprise loss against Harare City,

Midfielder Emmanuel Mandiranga scored the only goal of the match with a tap in midway through the second half to hand Mwaruwari his first defeat since taking over the coaching reins from Rodwell Dhlakama.

Prior to Saturday’s defeat, the former Manchester City striker had managed one win and two draws.

And on Saturday, he was left ruing his side’s failure to convert the numerous chances that they created in the first half as Harare City wrestled control of the tie in the second half and could have won by a wide margin.

Mwaruwari however, put on a brave face after the match.

“In football when you lose you have to go back and polish and try to improve,” Mwaruwari said after the match.

“I need to improve as a coach, the players need to improve every day so this – as much as it is painful – is the nature of football.

“If you dominate the first half as we did, you need to kill the opponent and we didn’t do that so we will have to go back and try to rectify those mistakes in the next game and hopefully we will come out winners.”

The defeat meant Ngezi Platinum Stars remain in fifth position on the table with 20 points, nine behind leaders Dynamos after the first 13  matches while Harare City move to 11th position on the table with 15 points.