Triangle United goalkeeper Hamilton Makainganwa suffered a potential career-ending injury during a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League clash against Manica Diamonds at Gibbo Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The match was overshadowed by the horrific moment when Makainganwa sustained a gruesome leg break following a nasty collision with Manica striker Tinotenda Musariranwa, who was shown a straight red card for the challenge.
The incident occurred early in the game, forcing Triangle to reshuffle their squad and bringing on substitute keeper Prince Mujuru.
Despite being reduced to ten men for over 85 minutes, Manica Diamonds dug deep to grind out a hard-fought 1–0 away victory, thanks to a dramatic late winner from Bret Amidu.
The result ended their frustrating run of six consecutive draws and gave their campaign a much-needed lift.
Triangle had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 58th minute after referee Kwanele Manenda pointed to the spot for a handball by David Chipo.
However, Thabani Kamusoko’s weak effort was comfortably saved by Manica goalkeeper Tedious Baye, much to the disappointment of the home fans.
The decisive moment came four minutes from full-time. A swift counterattack saw Charles Teguru turn his marker on the left flank before cutting the ball back for Amidu, who coolly finished to secure all three points for the visitors.
After the match, a visibly dejected Triangle coach, Genesis Mangombe, admitted that his squad lacks the depth and quality required to survive in the top flight this season.
We have a lot of work to do to survive the chop. We don’t have depth in our squad and even if you want to make a substitution you cannot do it because you are limited. We are working on beefing up our squad. We were not supposed to lose this game at all costs, but we lacked maturity and depth.
