Football
Simba Mushati, Special to ESPN 7y

Round-up: FC Platinum back to winning ways

Ambitious Zimbabwe Premier League side FC Platinum finally remembered how to win after overcoming visiting Tsholostho 1-0 at Mandava on Saturday.

Newboy Gift Mbweti's fourth minute strike was enough to hand Platinum victory and end a run of three consecutive draws to lift Norman Mapeza's team into fourth-place in the standings.

Still undefeated this season, Platinum have however struggled to kill off matches against lesser opponents, with a return of eight draws in 13 matches not exactly the kind of start to the campaign Mapeza had planned for.

The competitiveness of the league has however meant that the miners are just three points behind log leaders Ngezi Platinum and Mapeza will hope that Saturday's slender win spurs his team into a more consistent run.

He will definitely need his strikers to start firing after a paltry 11 goals in 13 matches. No less than eight teams have scored more goals than Mapeza's expensively assembled side - that includes second-bottom Bantu Rovers with 18.

The top-of-the-table clash between Chicken In and Ngezi Platinum at Luveve meanwhile ended goalless to leave the two teams tied on 28 points.

They also have the same goal difference, with Ngezi only shedding their rivals for the top spot after having scored more goals.

Chicken Inn had gone into Saturday's showdown on the back of a five-match winning streak while Ngezi had been without a win in three. And while the first-half was more of a cagey affair, the game opened up considerably after the break with both sides creating chances.

Ngezi's Tichaona Mabvura had the ball in the nets late only for his effort to be ruled out for off-side and that was the closest either side came to finding the breakthrough.

Results

Saturday
FC Platinum 1-0 Tsholotsho, Chicken Inn 0-0 Ngezi Platinum Report

Fixtures

Sunday
Dynamos vs. Bulawayo City, Bantu Rovers vs. Chapungu, Triangle vs. ZPC Kariba, Black Rhinos vs. Harare City, Hwange vs. Shabanie Mine, How Mine vs. Highlanders.

Tuesday
Yadah FC vs. CAPS United 

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