Malawi held!

The curse of conceding goals in the dying minutes came back to haunt the Junior Flames as they gave away a 2-nil lead to draw 2-2 against China’ Guaxghouz R&F FC during the official opening ceremony of the newly built 40 000 capacity Chinese funded Bingu National Stadium on Saturday afternoon in Lilongwe.

Binwel Katinji scored in each half to give the home team a deserved 2-nil lead but with few minutes to play in the second half, Zeng Chao and Xiao Zhi silenced the home fans in front of Malawi President Peter Mutharika when they pulled level in an unbelievable circumstance.

With top gurus dropped, the Junior Flames displayed one of the best performances, with Dalitso Sailesi being a thorn in the flesh for the visiting side.

Both teams were unable to find the back of the net, with Huang Zhengyu coming close to scoring when the hosts’ defence was caught napping. Just when everybody thought the game was ending goalless in the half, the home team got on the score sheet.

A cross from the right flank met Katinji in the air to head past Han Feng in goals for the visitors, 1-0.

The Junior Flames almost doubled their lead through Levison Maganizo whose long range missile was blocked by Yi Teng in defence for the Chinese side.

Sailesi, who was the main man on the day, made his way into the box to release Katinji, who, instead of putting the ball into the back of the net, opted to feed Issac Kaliyati on the edge of the penalty to finish off the job but the Be Forward Wanderers winger shot wide and it ended 1-0 at half time.

Come second half, the midfield battle intensified between Maganizo and Zhang Gon as the two teams settled in the middle of the park. Guangzhou were able to keep possession but found it very difficult to unlock Chisomo Mpachika’s led defence as it kept on frustrating the visitors.

Their realistic chance in the half fell through to substitute Zhi who released a thunderous shot outside Malawi’s goal area only to be denied by Lemani Nthala for a corner. Against the run of play, the Junior Flames doubled their lead in a dramatic fashion.

Guangzhou defender Xiang Baixu lost possession in his own half when he tried to dribble past Katinji, allowing the Silver Strikers star to smash home from a close range, 2-0. This was a wake up call for the visitors who then started attacking with intent, forcing Nthala from producing numerous saves to keep the Flames into the game.

However, Malawi’s resilient did not last long as Chao scored a beauty following a defensive relapse from the hosts, 2-1.

The hosts were too defensive as they tried to protect their slender lead, allowing the visitors to push harder in search for the equalizer. With three minutes to go, the home team was stunned.

The first scorer combined well with De Almeida Junior Ocimar to release Zhi who made no mistake to slot the ball into the back of the net to completely silence the home team, 2-2. With five minutes added on by referee Duncan Lengani, Malawi could have restored their lead when Dalitso Sailesi’ shot was tipped over the bar by Feng for a corner, 2-2 it ended.