By MICHAEL MIYOBA
LEICESTER City striker Patson Daka scored a brace and propelled Zambia to the summit of Group Has Zambia completed a double victory over Lesotho following a 2-0 thumping at Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa yesterday.
Daka, who watched as Lameck Banda shined in the home fixture, had Fashion Sakala to thank as the Glasgow Rangers striker produced two assists for his former Nchanga Rangers team mate to reach double digits of goals for the Chipolopolo.
Zambia had dominated the first stanza of the Ivory Coast AFCON qualifier and created their first chance through Rodrick Kabwe who ballooned his shot over the bar in the seventh minute.
Daka’s first chance to put his name on the score sheet came in the 9th minute when he rose high before heading Benedict Chepeshi’s cross wide.
Daka broke the deadlock and scored his 10th goal for Zambia 14 minutes into the first half after benefitting from Sakala’s headed pass inside the 18-yard box.
The former Power Dynamos striker who was tightly marked by two defenders slotted his low shot into the bottom right corner to give Zambia the lead.
Lameck Banda who had a brace in the 3-1 home win on Thursday had a chance to double the lead on the half hour mark but his glancing header was easily dealt with by Lesotho shot stopper
Five minutes before the break, Sakala had a chance to put to put his name on the score sheet but was unlucky as his close-range shot was blocked by Kopano Tseka.
In the second half, the Chipolopolo continued to dictate play and created a few chances before Sakala set up Daka for Zambia’s second goal and Daka’s 11th strike for the country nine minutes after the hour mark.
Ten minutes before the final whistle, Chipolopolo Grant introduced Clatous Chama for Kings Kangwa while Lameck Banda and Patson Daka paved way for Edward Chilufya and Kennedy Musonda.
The Chipolopolo held on as Grant maintained a 100 percent winning record since he took over as Chipolopolo head gaffer. The win in Johannesburg propelled Zambia to nine points in Group H, two points ahead of second-placed Ivory Coast who are tomorrow scheduled to host third-placed Comoros Islands.
