Green Buffaloes Football Club head coach Aggrey Chiyangi has revealed what he told his players during the halftime break to overturn a 1-0 deficit and secure a 2-1 win at Nchanga Stadium in Chingola.
The Zambia Army-sponsored side recovered from a 21st-minute setback when Pepo Ifoni put Nchanga Rangers in the lead, but Green Buffaloes struck back in the 48th minute through Felix Jere and added a second via an own goal from Roger Kumiyamba in the 53rd.
The Week 25 MTN Super League win leaves Green Buffaloes in 10th place with 32 points, while Nchanga Rangers remain third with 43 points.
Speaking after the match, Chiyangi explained that he noticed the home side was attacking with their fullbacks, leaving spaces his team could exploit.
“The message was that we told them where the loopholes were in Nchanga Rangers’ team, because if you look at Nchanga Rangers, they were attacking with all their fullbacks; they were coming up front, so we said, ‘Let’s use the space that the fullbacks are leaving so that we explore them in their box,’ and that is what we did.”
We played – Chiyangi
Chiyangi also expressed satisfaction with his team’s overall performance and noted that their goalkeeper was challenged for the only goal conceded.
“The team has played very well; the plan that we made was to make sure that Nchanga doesn’t score in the first 20-30 minutes. It was unfortunate that goal was allowed when our goalkeeper was pushed, but this is football; we cannot blame the referees,” he stated.
“When we conceded that goal, we just told our players to say no, the game hasn’t ended; let’s just push and keep fighting.”
The gaffer added that he had anticipated Nchanga’s attacking approach, which is why he deployed two defensive midfielders.
“We prepared for this game. If you look at the way we played, we had two anchoring midfielders, because I was not coming to a young coach; I was coming to an elderly coach, and I knew that he was going to plan very well for us, so we had to be very cautious, and that’s what we did.”
READ ALSO: “I Miss Scoring” – Banda Nets on Comeback After Lengthy Injury for Orlando Pride
