2019 AFCON qualifiers: Rampant Uganda beat Lesotho 2-0

Oct 16, 2018

Uganda, with a clean sheet so far, need just one point from their two remaining group-stage games to seal qualification for the 2019 AFCON finals in Cameroon.

2019 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFICATION

Group L: Tuesday results

Lesotho 0  Uganda 2

Tanzania 2  Cape Verde 0


MASERU - Unbeaten and yet to concede a goal so far, the Uganda Cranes are one point away from securing a place in the 2019 African Cup of Nations finals, following a convincing 2-0 victory away against Lesotho Tuesday evening.

Two first half goals by Farouk Miya were enough to seal back-to-back victories over the southern African kingdom as Uganda kept intact their unbeaten streak and clean sheet in this campaign.

Despite the Crocodiles applying pressure in the second half, the Ugandans stayed put, stamping their authority and riding this one out with relative ease.

For a third time in this duel, a Ugandan has scored a brace against Lesotho.

First it was Geoffrey Massa back in 2006 when the two sides met at Mandela National Stadium in a Nations Cup qualifier. Last Saturday, Emmanuel Okwi punished the Crocodiles with two strikes on either side of the interval. Today, Miya has done the same, with a rasping strike in the 6th minute just outside the box, and then sweeping in the winner 10 minutes before half time from a freekick near the edge.

After Tanzania exerting revenge on Cape Verde in the day's earlier Group L tie with a 2-0 win, lifting them to second place on five points, it means that Uganda, now on ten points at the summit, require only one point to seal qualification.

Cape Verde are in third on four points while Lesotho trail on two points.

You would say that, with two games remaining (one home, another away), the Cranes are as good as safely ashore.

Head coach Sebastien Desabre and co. will now take a break after a breathless four days in which they battled Lesotho at home and had to hit the skies only hours later to pitch camp in Maseru for the return leg.

 

The 42-year-old French tactician will have been delighted with his team's show of resilience and dominance to collect the maximum six points from this exhausting double-header.

On Tuesday, the visitors illustrated just how comfortable they can be on artificial surface as on natural turf when they flew out of the blocks on the front foot, pegging Lesotho in their own half.

Allan Kateregga nearly made the early pressure count when he came on the end of a whipped-in cross, but he brushed his header wide.

Two minutes later, however, Uganda was ahead, thanks to Miya's fierce strike from the edge of the box. Lesotho goalkeeper Likano Mphuthi, who started ahead of Mohau Kuenane, did not stand a chance.

Miya, the scorer of Uganda's only goal at the 2017 AFCON finals in Gabon, nearly made it two seven minutes later when he carried the ball over Basia Makepe, only to blast well wide of goal.

A comfortable start on foreign soil saw the lankier Ugandans outwit, outplay and outlast the home side under floodlights in a sparse Setsoto Stadium in Lesotho's capital Maseru.

But in a rare buildup in the attack, the Crocodiles came close to punishing their more illustrious east African opponents in the 17th minute. But Matlama FC's Mabuti Potloane miskicked his effort wide enough not to trouble Cranes first-choice keeper and former African Player of the Year Denis Onyango.

While the Ugandans were strong aerially and precise in their passing, the hosts picked up momentum mid-way through the first half. Early flashes of pressure showed in the vistors' camp when centreback Hassan Wasswa, with a distinctive hairstyle, was the first man to be booked for clattering into an opponent.

Leftback Sello Bokang, back from suspension, drew a fine save from Onyango with the resulting freekick. The Mamelodi Sundowns goalstopper had to stretch to his right to parry the fierce low-angled shot out of danger.

Tumelo Khutlang, who plays for South African side Black Leopards FC, should have done better than lose his stride near the box once in flight during a good spell by Lesotho before the half-hour mark.

Meanwhile, before his second goal, Miya was booked for overreaction, as was Lesotho captain Mafa Moremoholo moments later for clipping Okwi right outside the box down the left flank.

That was the Ugandan forward's third goal in two games, having scored a penalty in the first leg back in Kampala.



Lesotho afforded the visitors enough room to adventure, with Nicholas Wadada once letting rip a bazooka from several yards out and the dreadlocked Kateregga also trying to catch Mphuthi off his line with an audacious freekick from the midfield.

The hosts returned from the break with a renewed complexion, hitting the ground running, clearly eager to make amends for their lethargic first-half display in front of a small home support.

In a second half that saw Miya twice requiring on-field medical attention, the Cranes were pushed back and had to do more defending and ball chasing. Once, Makepe caught their backline sleeping but his headed effort went wide.

In the 58th-minute, Desabre brought on Egypt-based Isaac Muleme and took off the industrious but tired Kateregga in the first of Uganda's reforms.

On the hour-mark, Lesotho will have felt hard done by after the referee waved away any sorts of appeal for a penalty when the ball appeared to have come off Denis Iguma's hand inside the box, before a Lesotho player went down under pressure by Murushid Jjuuko.

The official's decision not to award a penalty was met with protestation from the home players, who had returned from the break more attack-minded.

It will be a talking point of the game, but in truth, the Ugandans were superior albeit very erratic in the second stanza. Khalid Aucho and Okwi were the other Ugandans yellow-carded.

'Players were excellent'



As Tuesday's game wore on, the Cranes settled for possession football and when without the ball, they had to absorb sustained late pressure from the hosts to keep their unblemished campaign alive.

After a good game, Desabre could afford to rest Miya and replace him with Moses Waiswa Ndhondhi 14 minutes before time. Edrisa Lubega, who started in the first leg, came on for Patrick Kaddu in the 87th-minute as the Cranes firmly secured a vital three points.

Next up, Uganda will host Cape Verde exactly a month from today, on November 16. A point from this game will confirm the east African footballing giant's place in Cameroon.

The same day, Lesotho will play host to Tanzania in a race for a spot in the finals.

So far, only five teams have qualified for the 24-team tournament due early next year: Cameroon (hosts), Senegal, Madagascar, Tunisia and Egypt.

 

Also related to this story

Uganda beat Lesotho 3-0 in 2019 AFCON qualifier

AFCON 2019 Qualifiers: Uganda 0 Tanzania 0

 



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