A second-half brace from Alfred Chizinga was enough to dump Mighty Wanderers out of the Airtel Top 8 Cup as Karonga United advanced to the semis with a 2-1 aggregate win over the 2022 champions.
With the first leg ending 1-0 in favour of the Wanderers, Karonga United had to put in extra work to stand any chance of causing an upset.
The first half ended goalless, with Wanderers squandering plenty of chances through Isaac Kaliyati, who seems to have lost his scoring boots as, on two separate occasions, he failed to beat MacLean Mwale in goals for the hosts.
On the other side of the field, the hosts had a few chances that should have resulted in a goal, but Wanderers defended well to maintain their slender lead as the two teams went to the break as the first half ended goalless.
In the second half, that’s when the home team turned everything around.
Karonga levelled the aggregate in the 54th minute through Chizinga, who slotted the ball home from Allen Chihana’s cross, making it 1-1.
At this stage, the game could have gone either way as Karonga United only needed another goal to advance to the next stage, while a goal for Wanderers would have given them a massive advantage over their opponents.
But it was Chizinga again who haunted the Nomads with a submarine finish to put the game in their favour.
This meant Wanderers needed just a goal to level to give them an away goal advantage. However, Karonga kept on pressing for another goal as they attacked and defended with caution by reducing Wanderers to mere spectators.
In the end, Karonga United sailed through to the semis with a 2-1 aggregate win from the two-legged affairs while Wanderers, who were hoping for a positive result, are now out of the competition.
This means Karonga will travel to Blantyre to face the defending champions, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, in the semis.
It will be the third meeting between the two teams in this competition, having met in the quarter-finals of the 2022 season in which Bullets won the first leg 7-0 before playing out to a 1-1 draw away from home.
The other semifinals will see the winner between Silver Strikers and Moyale Barracks facing the winner between Mzuzu City Hammers and Civil Service United.
Pic: File photo courtesy of Wanderers media
