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Masvingo United continued with their unbeaten run at home after they dispatched the visiting Gunners in an exciting and evenly balanced Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Mucheke yesterday.
Yuna Yuna recovered from their nightmarish outing against Dynamos at Rufaro last week where they were thumped 5-1 and buried Gunners with three first half goals that condemned the spirited visitors to defeat.
The hosts’ toast of the day was double scorer Takunda Mapara who scored two goals in the space of eight minutes while Elton Dzumbunu scored the home side’s third goal that sank the visitors.
Though Gunners tried to come back into the game with a vintage midfield show after the break, they found Yuna Yuna unyielding with their goalkeeper Francis Tizirai having a dream day between the posts.
The visitors were the first to settle down and it came as no surprise when they took the lead in the 6th minute through Ashley Rambanepasi who drilled home a cross from inside the box after some fine work by Nathan Ziwini.
Masvingo found the equaliser in the 10th minute through Mapara who capitalised on a back pass by a Gunners defender to slot the ball past a badly exposed goalkeeper George Chigova.
Mapara returned to haunt the Gunners defence in the 18th minute when he beat Chigova with a low shot and captivated the Mucheke crowd.
Masvingo went further ahead in the 35th minute after Dzumbunu tapped the ball home from close-range to beat Chigova after receiving a through pass from Ronald Mukandiwa.
After the break, Gunners upped the tempo of their game, taking advantage of the Yuna Yuna players who seemed to be tiring with each passing minute.
It was not a surprise when Ishmael Lawe reduced the arrears for Gunners in the 58th minute with a stunning header, which flew past a badly exposed Tizirai.
Gunners continued to pile on the pressure and Ziwini almost drew the teams level in the 76th minute but his header failed to beat the outstanding Tizirai.
As the match wore towards the end, the visitors continued to pile on the pressure in search of an equaliser but they were either thwarted by Masvingo goalkeeper Tizirai or the hard tackling defender Patson Sinamai.