THOUGH the attention was on the Dar es Salaam derby at the Uhuru Stadium, the eight round of Premier League was a Kagera Sugar-Lipuli-Azam dominion as the only sides that enjoyed victories.
It was a dull round as it saw only 11 goals being netted in the seven venues, with the three teams having great weekend as the only winners in the round eight that witnessed four draws and only three wins.
Out of the four draws, two were barren; involving Mtibwa Sugar against Singida United and Njombe versus Stand United. The 1-1 draw notched by traditional rivals Simba and Young Africans at the Uhuru Stadium was the most watched tie of the league’s round eight. The other one was encounter between Majimaji and Mwadui which also ended in 1-1 draw.
As opposed to the seventh round which saw 14 goals being netted, the 8th round is among the goal-dry rounds. It seems the teams are hard to be beaten; a situation that makes the number of goals continues to dwindle as witnessed in the eighth round.
The Dar es Salaam derby which was the most distinctive match of the eighth round was expected to produce more goals considering the fact that both Yanga and Simba netted hefty four goals in their matches against Stand United and Njombe Mji respectively, ahead of their epic clash at Uhuru Stadium.
But at the end of normal time, the traditional rivals held each other to a 1-1 draw. Only two venues in round eight produced three goals. At Kaitaba Stadium in Kagera, the hosts Kagera Sugar beat Ndanda FC 2-1 while at Samora Stadium in Iringa, hosts Lipuli overpowered Mbao FC with 2-1 win to register their third win of the season.
The results partially helped Kagera Sugar to temporality escape the relegation zone and climb up to 12th place with 6 points in hand. Azam had another thin 1-0 victory of the season at their backyard Azam Complex in the city as they derailed seventh placed Mbeya City who will entertain league toppers Simba at Sokoine Stadium in Mbeya on Sunday.
It was Azam’s third home win this season as they still enjoy unbeaten league. Until the end of Round 8, 110 goals have been scored from 63 matches played in various venues, with 12 of them ending with barren draws..
Mtibwa Sugar missed the chance to ascend at the summit of the league as they were held to a scoreless draw by the visiting Singida United at Manungu Stadium in Morogoro, hence enabling Simba to continue driving the league table with 16 points ahead of the second- placed Young Africans, third occupants Mtibwa Sugar and Azam FC who sit on fourth place.
Best goal average favours the Msimbazi Street giants to lead the pack with their lethal striker Emmanuel Okwi still on the golden boot lead with eight goals and he is being silently chased by Yanga’s sniper Ibrahim Ajib who has netted five times.
As the race for championship rages on, it is evident at this far that the 2017-18 league season is very difficult basing on the stiff competition being displayed by the teams. Hence the title race is wide open as anyone within the range can claim the title.
In other words, there are no underdog in this season league, something sports analysts forced to predict an exceptional title race ever seen since league’s inception. Debutants such as Singida United, Lipuli FC and Njombe Mji have already shown that they are capable of doing what the top flight side can do.
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