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Mugove Chigada in MAHAJANGA, Madagascar
HARARE City coach Taurai Mangwiro believes the fact that his side never lost a game in which they have scored first could be key in helping them clear the hurdle set by AS Adema in the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round, second leg tie here on Sunday.

A draw or a win against the Malagasy side will take the Sunshine Boys through to the first round of the CAF Confederation Cup.

They lead 3-2 after winning the first leg at Rufaro.

“We have never lost a game in which we have taken the initiative and scored first. That is very positive on our side,” said Mangwiro.

“We go into the match knowing exactly what we should do.

“It is a tough battle for us but we are ready to try and defend our lead from the first leg. It is good we travelled in good time as it gives the players time to settle before the match on Sunday.”

It is fact that whenever Harare City scored first in their 30 league matches last year, Mangwiro’s first season at Harare City, they collected at least a point from that particular match.

But the same also holds true that their loss of concentration as the game progressed was their greatest undoing, as they struggled to maintain the lead, allowing opponents to come from behind to level scores.

“Yes, you may also interpret it that way, but I always try to look at the positives in the team. It is that positive attitude that we need if we are to progress in this competition.

“They never really challenged us much in the first leg, we just gave away two soft goals,” Mangwiro said.

In the first leg against AS Adema, the visitors scored two goals in the first stages of the second half after City had taken a 2-0 lead in the first half.

New signing Raphael Manuvire then struck the winning goal.

Another new recruit Chitiyo had given them the opener.

That somehow showed City’s new character, a team with many layers in their game, a contrast of the 2015 side that threw in the towel too soon.

For the record, in the 30 league matches played in 2015, in 10 matches they started strongly by scoring first, only for their opponents to level the scores.

In some cases they held the team in the first half only for the opponents to score the winner as the game progressed.

They only managed to come back from behind and win the game once against FC Platinum (2-1) at Rufaro.

Out of the games they lost last year, against Tsholotsho (0-1), Buffaloes (1-2), Triangle (1-3) and Chicken Inn (1-3), they failed to come from behind.

Six games ended as goalless draws.

They also lost against ZPC Kariba (0-2), FC Platinum (0-2) and Hwange (0-1), with all the goals coming in the second half after they had done well in the first half.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the players to make sure they continue to concentrate throughout the game.

“We sometimes have psychologists talking to them on concentration levels. But at the end of the day it is the players that must be committed to this,” Mangwiro said.