MTNFootball

Zambia beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in friendly on Wednesday in a friendly at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.

The win ended a two-match winless run for Zambia against their trans-Zambezi rivals who arrived into Wednesday night’s games with two-out-of-two wins over their hosts’ since 2009.

Both teams didn’t disappoint with Zimbabwe’s Danny Phiri and Kubulani Banda giving Zambia a difficult time.

However, it was Zambia who had an upper edge in the opening 45 minutes with captain Joseph Sitali going toe-to-toe with Phiri in their midfield battle.

Zambia later took a deserved lead on 35 minutes through Jimmy Chisenga.

The Red Arrows winger curled in a sublime shot with the outside of his right boot to beat the experience Zimbabwe and Highlanders goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda.

Zimbabwe came back strongly after halftime in what was a busier period for Zambia goalkeeper Joshua Titima.

Motor Action defender Passmore Bernard was unfortunate in the 67th minute not to have scored after his header was saved by Titima.

However, Hwange striker Rodwell Chinyengetere made no mistake five minutes later with a flying header after benefitting from a neat cross from Bernard.

But eight minutes before time, Zambia were awarded a somewhat soft penalty by Jani Sikazwe.

This is after defender Aaron Katebe went down easily following a challenge from Bernard.

Sitali stepped up to blast the ball into the roof of the net with Sibanda going the other way.

Zimbabwe turned up the pressure but Zambia held on to remain unbeaten for a second successive game after beating Ghana 1-0 in their debut match at Levy Stadium on June 9.