Staff Reporter.
Malawi caused the first major upset of the 2023 COSAFA Cup after beating defending champions Zambia 1-0 at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Thursday evening.
The Flames showed plenty of attacking intent in the opening stages and were rewarded for the efforts on 17 minutes when Aaron Katebe inadvertently headed the ball into the back of his own net from a corner.
Moses Sichone’s side created a couple of good chances in a bid to get back into the contest, but Brighton Munthali kept them at bay to ensure his team came away with three precious points to move level with Comoros at the top of Group B.
Malawi had failed to progress beyond the group stages in 2021 and 2022, while the Copper Bullets went all the way last year to join Zimbabwe with a record six titles.
The Flames made a bright start and Lanjesi Nkhoma tested Lawrence Mulenga with a dipping shot from range on 11 minutes before Nikson Mwase got off a snapshot that was turned around the right post by the Zambia goalkeeper in the 16th minute.
The deadlock was broken from the resulting corner as Katebe got his clearing header all wrong after being put off by teammate Kelvin Kapumbu and the ball flew inside the right post.
Chipolopolo took some time to find their stride and eventually carved out an opening on 28 minutes when Kelvin Kampamba played a one-two with Frederick Mulambia before curling a first-time shot past the left post.
Zambia then survived a scare in the 41st minute when Nkhoma lashed a first-time volley inches wide of the right post from inside the box after being picked out by Robert Saiz’s low cross.
Munthali pulled off the save of the match on the stroke of halftime as he got a firm glove onto Moyela Libamba’s first-time shot that looked destined for the top right corner of the net.
The Malawi keeper had a more routine save to make in the 55th minute when Libamba managed to get his overhead-kick on target after the ball bounced up from a corner.
Libamba forced another sharp save out of Munthali with a shot on the turn from a tight angle on the right in the 56th minute after showing a neat touch to beat his marker from Benedict Chepeshi’s pass.
However, the six-time champions weren’t able to breach the opposition goal in the final 30 minutes as they slumped to a first defeat in the tournament since 2021.
Meanwhile Comoros swept aside Seychelles 3-0 in the first game of the day in Group B, their biggest ever victory in the regional competition. It is, in fact, the first time Comoros had won a COSAFA Cup game by more than a single goal.