Zanzibar stun Uganda, to face Stars in Cecafa final

Minnows Zanzibar continued with their fairy-tale run in the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup after stunning holders Uganda Cranes 2-1 on Friday in the semi-finals at Moi Stadium in Kisumu to storm into their first ever final.

Abdul-Azziz Makame opened the scoring for Zanzibar in the 22nd minute before the tournament's top scorer Derrick Nsibambi equalised to take his tally to four goals with seven minutes to the break. Mohammed Issa Juma struck the all important goal from the spot after 57 minutes to give the islanders the historic win in Kisumu.

Zanzibar will now take on hosts Harambee Stars - who beat Burundi 1-0 after extra time in Thursday's first semi-final - in the final at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on Sunday. Uganda will also take on Burundi in the play-off match at the same venue on Sunday.

The final will be a repeat of the Group A fixture in which the two sides battled to a barren draw. Interestingly, Cranes and Burundi also battled to a barren draw in their opening Group B match of the tournament.

The Cranes finished the match with 10 men after substitute Joseph Nsubuga was shown a straight red in the 55th minute for fouling Ahmada Ibrahim in the box.

The match was primed to be one-sided affair with the favourites tag hanging on Uganda, who won the Cup the last time the tournament was held two years ago.

“This was tough match against the defending champions. I thank God and my players for this win that propels to our first ever Cecafa final. We deserved to win going by how we played today.

“We respect Kenya who are our next opponents in the final. However that doesn’t mean we fear them because we came here to win the cup,” said Zanzibar coach Ali Suleiman Hemed.

The encounter kicked off on a high note with both sides keen on making every touch count.

Uganda, known for quick interchanges and counter attacks, met a stubborn Zanzibar side not ready to be bullied around.

Uganda under the tutelage of Moses Basena were the first to rattle their opponents with Nsibambi testing Zanzibar goalkeeper Mohamed Abdurrahman with a powerful shot in the 12th minute.

Zanzibar then responded through Ibrahim Hamad whose low shot was parried away for a corner in the 21st minute.

Skipper Suleiman Kassim took the resultant corner with Abdul-Aziz Makame guiding the ball past Watenga to give Zanzibar the lead to the shock of the handful Cranes supporters.

Kassim again sneaked past the Uganda backline seconds later but this time round was flagged offside by assistant referee Theo Ndagijimana from Rwanda.

With the islanders now growing in confidence and attacking with flair, Uganda coach Basena pulled out defender Shafiq Bakaki for Nsubuga minutes later.

NSIBAMBI'S EQUALISER

The holders settled in well in the later stages of the opening half and grabbed an equaliser through Nsibambi, who took full advantage of a defence lapse to curl a superb shot past Mohammed, after latching onto Allan Kyambadde’s cross from the right wing.

Muzamir Mutyaba and Hood Kaweesa then came close for Uganda but Zanzibar stood firm to ensure the teams head for the break even.

After the breather, it was a see-saw affair in the early exchanges with Zanzibar knocking twice invitingly to their opponents' danger area through dangerous crosses from Abdul-Aziz Makame and skipper Suleiman.

The Ugandans found themselves with 10 men after Nsubuga was given his matching orders for fouling Ahmada Ibrahim in the box with only Watenga to beat. Issa Juma made no mistake from 12 yards to restore Zanzibar's lead.

Kampala City Council midfielder Allan Kateregga then came inn for Mutyaba on the hour mark as coach Basena sought to have more fresh legs on the pitch.

ABDALLA BOOKED

Feisal Abdalla was then booked for a lounge on Kyambadde before he was replaced by Mmanga Othman in one of the first changes by Zanzibar coach Ali Suleiman Hemed.

On the other end, Kyambadde was rested for Nelson Senkatuka who alongside Kateregga pushed for an equaliser with no success.

“I don't think we deserved to lose, credit to our opponents who capitalised on our mistakes to punish us. We lost possession carelessly and thereafter played a team with numerical advantage after one of our players was sent off,” said Basena.