CAF Champions League | Results
- Jwaneng Galaxy 2-0 Vipers SC
National League winners Vipers SC suffered a 2-0 loss to Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy in the CAF Champions League preliminary round at the Lobatse Sports Complex on Sunday.
However, the result hardly tells the true story of the game since Botswana’s side would have harvested quite a bigger victory.
The Kitende-based side was given the perfect reality check to see how they fare according to the continental weighing scale.
Vicent Thabang Sesinye’s brace put a sword on Vipers’ throat leaving their chances of qualification hanging on a thin thread.
To date, it has been difficult to persuade the football community that the centre-back duo of Hillary Mukundane and Livingstone Mulondo can create a safe shield for Viper’s goal area.
The two appear to have a lot in common, making them more of a single player in two places, and Jwaneng’s attacking force gave them a lot of homework, leaving them vulnerable.
Vipers SC put several men forward after conceding in the 16th minute in pursuit of a leveller but were not smart enough to score as their wish was.
This further affirms that Vipers still walk with the challenge of goal scoring. They narrowly lost 1-0 against BUL FC in the FUFA Super 8 before they later edged Maroons as Brazilian Rodriguez Giancarlo scored from a well-taken free kick.
After qualifying for the CAF Champions League group stages and later completing the local double, it was clear that the Venoms were bound for greater glory, but the club’s changes seem to have done more harm than good.
Vipers SC head coach Leonard Neiva revealed after the loss that his troops were not good enough to take three points from Jwaneng but gave the Venoms faithful that the result can still be overturned.
“I cannot criticise the attitude of the players because they tried, but it was the way we tried that was not good enough,” Neiva said during the post-match press conference.
“It was a very good game but hard for both sides. Galaxy is an organised team and congratulations to them. The game is still open so if Galaxy are able to score two goals at their home then we can also score in Uganda and move into the next round,” he added.
The two sides will be meeting on Saturday, August 26, in the second leg at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende. As inklings of doubt and pressure mount, Vipers will have a number of questions to answer.
The winner on aggregate will face the winner between Djabal FC and Orlando Pirates in the final round that will be played later in September.
