Frustrated Ibengé reveals why Azam FC dropped points against JKT Tanzania

Azam FC coach Florent Ibengé has admitted that his side dropped points to a very good JKT Tanzania in their second match of the Tanzanian Premier League at Isamuhyo Stadium on Wednesday.

Heading into the fixture, the Ice Cream Makers had won their opener 2-0 against Mbeya City, and they were seeking to make it two wins out of two. Azam took a deserved lead in the 43rd minute through Feisal ‘Toto’ Salum for a comfortable lead at the half-time break.

However, in the second half, JKT came back a rejuvenated side denying Azam space to play, and they were rewarded in the added minutes of stoppages when Paul Peter stunned the Chamazi-based side for the draw.

Azam were not very good with the ball

“In the last 10 minutes, we played two back, low block, and we let the opponent come and play near our goal, so we conceded a goal, congratulations to JKT Tanzania, we will go back and work to win the next match,” Ibengé told Pan-Africa Football.

“We were not very good with the ball, because I have told you JKT is a very good team, they played in a system we didn’t read very well, so my players had a lot of difficulties to keep the ball, and maybe we were tired, because we played less than 72 hours, from our last game, and so we have to get a good recovery for the next one.”

JKT Tanzania players played with fear

Meanwhile, JKT Tanzania coach Ahmad Ally, said: “We didn’t have a good game, we started very badly, and we were not comfortable with the rhythm we wanted to play, but second half, we knew they were leading 1-0, so our plan was to have a man to man marking to create space for ourselves upfront.

“Obviously second half my players understood what we wanted to do and got the goal. I want to congratulate my players for the vital point.

“We were not comfortable with the ball, we never kept the ball especially in the first half, but I guess my players played with fear, we were late to decision making because we gave Azam too much space, but we will rectify the mistakes for the next game.”

Azam will now shift focus to the second preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup where they are lined up to face KMKM of Zanzibar in the two-legged affair.