May 4, 2024
Today saw the biggest fixture in the Malawi domestic season with the Blantyre derby between Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers.
MTN Super League
The MTN Super League consists of 16 sides who play each other twice for a 30 game season. Nyasa Big Bullets with 17 have won the most titles, including the last 5. Lilongwe based Silver Strikers have won seven titles, followed by Mighty Wanderers with six, the last of which was in 2017.
In the 2023 season, Bullets lost only twice to finish 3 points ahead of Silver Strikers, with Mighty Wanderers a further two points behind.
Due to their low CAF co-efficient, Malawi have only one side qualifying for the CAF Champions League and they normal struggle. In the 2023/24 competition, Nyasa Big Bullets won their first tie, eliminating Dragons from Equatorial Guinea 3-0 on aggregate, before predictably succumbing to TP Mazembe of DR Congo 0-5 on aggregate, with a 0-4 defeat in Lumbambashi after a 0-1 “home” defeat played in Lilongwe.
Malawi National Football Team
The Malawi national side are currently 125th in the FIFA World ranking behind Estonia and Cyprus but ahead of Sierra Leone and Sudan.
Malawi have never qualified for the World Cup Finals, but have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations on three occasions, the last of which was in 2021, when they reached the last 16. A 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe and a 0-0 draw with Senegal after opening with a 0-1 loss to Guinea saw Malawi finish as one of the best third placed sides, but they were eliminated 1-2 by Morocco in the knock-out stages after taking an early lead.
No Malawi player has played in the English Premier League. Cambridge United’s Jubril Okedina has won 2 caps after being called up for friendlies against Kenya and Zambia earlier this year, whilst Partick Thistle’s Kieran Ngwenya has one cap.
Blantyre
Blantyre is the second largest city in Malawi after the capital Lilongwe, and is the centre of the country’s finance, commerce and manufacturing. It was named after the birthplace of explorer David Livingstone, and its population is estimated at being just over 800,000.
Blantyre is located in the south of the country, around 300km from the capital Lilongwe, which typically takes 4 and a half hours by road.
Both sides play in the Kamuzu Stadium which once had a capacity of 65,000 but now ranges between 25,000 and 40,000 depending on safety considerations. A synthetic surface has recently been installed.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers
Wanderers were founded in 1962 by Portuguese immigrants and initially played in Porto’s colours. Their nickname is The Nomads.
Wanderers had 9 Malawi internationals in their current squad. Defender Stanley Sanudi had 86 caps and striker Chiukepo Msowoya had scored 22 times in 90 appearances. Midfielder Francisco Madinga had 14 caps whilst striker Christopher Kumwembe had appeared 9 times for The Flames. Their other internationals were captain and defender Lawrence Chaziya ( 14 caps ), midfielders Wisdom Mpinganjira ( 3 caps ) and Issac Kaliati ( 10 caps ), and striker Gaddie Chirwa ( 8 caps ). Goalkeeper William Thole had 5 caps and had 13 clean sheets last season, the most in the league but was a substitute today. Clement Nyondo was called up to the most recent national squad but was still to make his debut.
Nyasa Big Bullets
Nyasa Big Bullets were formed in 1967 after a group of players split from Mighty Wanderers. They modestly refer to themselves as The People’s Team.
Zimbabwean coach Kallisto Pasuwa has been in charge for their five consecutive titles and has three of his compatriots in his squad, ex-Herentals centre-back Colin Mujuru who was voted man of the match in their last two matches but was missing today due to injury, and ex-Dynamos FC midfielders Kenneth Pasuwa and Ronald Chitiyo. Nigerian striker Babatunde Adepoju has returned on loan from South African side Venda Football Academy having scored 34 goals in 46 appearances in his previous spell with the club.
In contrast to the Mighty Wanderers, Big Bullets had fewer Malawi international players. Defender Gomezgani Chirwa was the most experienced with 24 caps, ex-Civil Service United midfielder Lloyd Aaron had 9 caps and midfielders Lanjesi Nkhoma and Patrick Nwaungulu had 10 and 8 caps respectively.
Defender Blessings Mpokera had 2 caps and midfielder/wing-back Julius Phiri had 3 caps. Ephraim Kondowe, Chawanangwa Gumbo and Yamikani Mologeni had recently received call-ups but were also still to make their full debuts for their country.
2024 Season So Far
Both sides entered the fifth round of fixtures with 2-2-0 records to be in 3rd and 4th place in the table, two points behind the leaders Silver Strikers.
Nyasa Big Bullets started with a 1-1 away draw at Dedza Dynamos and 0-0 home draw with Mighty Tigers. However, they since won 3-0 at Chitipa United and 2-1 at home to Baka City, with Kendowe on target three times in the four matches.
Mighty Wanderers commenced with a 1-1 home draw with Kamuzu Barracks, but didn’t miss out at FOMO, where they won 3-0. A 3-0 home victory over Creck Sporting followed but they were then held 0-0 at Bangwe All Stars. Kumwembe was their top scorer on two goals.
Previous Meetings
When the two sides met last season, both matches were draws. A 1-1 was played out in November in the home match for Big Bullets, and it was 0-0 in the reverse fixture in July.
There was another draw in 2022, 3-3 in August but the Big Bullets won 2-1 in the season’s opening fixture in March 2022.
Matchday Information
Tickets for today’s match ranged between 4,000 to 6,000 Kwacha ( £2 to £3 ) for the open stands, 8,000 to 10,000 ( £4 to £5 ) for the covered stands, and 18,000 to 20,000 ( £8 to £9 ) for the VIP enclosure. The Blantyre football fans had turned up in their numbers and the stadium was packed. There was plenty of noise !
The weather at the 14.30 local time kick-off ( 13.30 UK ) was sunny with temperatures around 23 degrees but their appeared to be quite a stiff breeze.
Bullets were playing in their traditional red and white stripes with red shorts and socks. Wanderers took to the field in all blue.
Mighty Wanderers made three changes to the side that started against Bangwe All Stars, Chaziya coming in for Cholopi, Kaliati replaced Mwakanyongo and Blessing Singini took the place of Nyondo.
Nyasa Big Bullets made four changes to their starting line-up with Nyasulu replacing Chimbamba in goal, Singo came in at centre-back for Mujuru whilst Phiri and Mapemba replaced Sambani and Gumbo
All league matches in Malawi are streamed live on FIFA+
Match Report
Wanderers started the match in composed fashion, pleasantly passing the ball around, and they won the first corner of the match in the second minute when Phiri was forced to put a right wing cross out of play to prevent it reaching Mpinanjira.
Bullet’s first foray into their opponent’s half came in the 5th minute when Mwaungulu delivered a free-kick beyond the far post but Nkhoma on the stretch could only loop the ball into the air for keeper Chipwa to claim an easy catch. The linesman’s flag was raised in any case.
At this point the picture was lost for nearly 10 minutes, and when it did return it didn’t last for long before the blank screen returned. The stream came back just before half-time and some of the first half highlights were shown during the break, including the goal scored by Wanderers which gave them a 1-0 lead at the break, before the pictures were lost again. At this point I gave up !!
FIFA+ usually have the complete match and highlights available on their website but at the time of writing these hadn’t been published for this match, perhaps due to all the technical issues. Instead, I have had to rely on the Nyasa Big Bullets website for a match report, which reads as very impartial, and highlights on the Bullets’ YouTube channel.
Wanderers created the next chance as Silwimba crossed in the 6 yard box but Kaliati sliding in was unable to make contact as the ball bounced off for a goal kick.
In the 11th minute, a free-kick wide on the right for the Bullets taken by Mwaungulu deflected off the defensive wall, but Kondowe was unable to bounce and under pressure from keeper Chipuwa could only prod wide.
Set-piece specialist Mwaungulu then saw his corner only partially cleared by the Wanderers defence, and when played back into the penalty area, Aaron on the turn shot narrowly over the bar from close to the penalty spot.
The opening goal of the game arrived in the 20th minute. Kaliati played a pass to Singini, who flicked the ball over the square Bullets back line for Kaliati to run onto and volley left footed across goal into the opposite corner for a fabulous goal. 0-1 with 20 minutes played.
The Big Bullets report notes that they were second best for much of the rest of the first half as the Nomads were winning all the loose balls and in control of the match, and the home side had not had a shot on target in the opening 40 minutes.
Indeed, Mighty Wanderers nearly doubled their lead after a flowing move, but Kumwembe put a difficult chance over the bar as he was falling to the floor. The Nomads striker then put a more straightforward chance into the side netting from 10 yards after a good run by Singini.
The home side finally looked dangerous when a long ball put Kondowe clear, but from a tight angle the Bullet’s forward’s chip went over both the advancing keeper and the bar.
Nyasa big Bullets made two changes at the start of the second period in a bid to turn the match around, with Chitiyo and Adepoju being introduced.
The changes had an almost impact as Big Bullets quickly scored an equaliser. Adepoju had his back to the goal but laid back to Mwaungulu to drill home left-footed from just outside the area, giving Chipuawa no chance. 1-1 after 49 minutes.
The Big Bullets match report then comments that the home pressed for a second goal but the Nomads’s centre-backs Chaziya and Kung’unde defended well. However, the highlight showed that the next two chances fell to Mighty Wanderers.
First, Mpinganjira jinked in from the left past Chirwa but shot into the side netting from the angle of the penalty area, then Sanudi’s smart wall-pass released Chirwa, but keeper Nyasulu came off his line to make a brave close range save. Zulu blasted the rebound over the bar from 12 yards.
As the game moved into its final 10 minutes, Mighty Wanderers’ keeper Chipuwa came bravely off his line to save at the feet of Adepoju after the Nigerian looked to have been put clear.
The stalemate remained at the finish, for the fourth consecutive draw in the league matches between the two Blantyre giants. With results elsewhere, both sides dropped a place in the league table, but it is very early days.
Finally, a big thank you to the Big Bullets website and their YouTube channel for enabling this review to be completed ! I’m not sure when I will trust FIFA+ again….
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7_sdzu66Y8
Nyasa Big Bullets : I. Nyasulu –Phiri, Senaji, Singo, Chirwa – Petro, Mwaungulu, Nkhoma ( Adepoju ), Aaron ( Chitiyo ), Mapemba – Kondowe ( Mfune )
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers FC : Chipuwa – Sanudi, Kung’unde, Chaziya, Silwimba – Zulu, Mpinganjira ( Madinga ), Singini, Kaliati ( Mwakanyongo ) – Chirwa, Kumwembe
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