Early red card shapes the first leg
Scottland FC secured a 2-0 victory over Petro de Luanda of Angola at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, taking a lead into the second leg of their CAF Champions League second preliminary round tie. The Mabvuku club, nicknamed Mabviravira, will travel to Angola on Friday. Petro de Luanda played almost the entire match with ten men after goalkeeper Hugo Marques was sent off 30 seconds in for fouling Panashe Mutimbanyoka at the edge of the penalty area, with the referee ruling he had denied an obvious goalscoring chance.[S1][S2][S3]
Even with the numerical advantage, the Zimbabwean side could not break through before the interval and the teams went in level. The deadlock was broken in the 66th minute by Khama Billiat, and Knowledge Musona made it 2-0 in the 80th minute. The result left Scottland FC in a strong position ahead of the return fixture, where avoiding a defeat by three goals would be enough to win the tie.[S1][S3]
Mapeza wants another positive result in Angola
Scottland FC coach Norman Mapeza welcomed the outcome and said his team had found it hard to play against a side reduced to ten men, while expressing satisfaction with the two goals. He added that the result gives his players an advantage for the second leg and that they intend to go to Angola and come away with a positive result.[S1]
Progress would put Scottland FC into the CAF Champions League group stages. No Zimbabwean club has managed that since FC Platinum in 2020, according to the match report.[S1]
