Simba Sports Club and Young Africans played to a 2-2 draw in their Dar es Salaam derby at National Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Yanga will be happier of the two teams, as they came from two goals down to claim a valuable point in the Tanzania Premier League.
Simba created the first clear chance as early as the third minute, with Ditram Nchimbi getting in behind the Yanga defence, but his shot from a tight angle was turned away by goalkeeper Farouk Shikalo.
Yanga’s running power in the attack nearly brought them a goal in the 11th minute, with Haruna Niyonzima’s surge forward only halted by an excellent tackle from Tairone Santos, while Mapinduzi Balama should have at least hit the target from the follow-up.
Simba looked dangerous with their fluid build-up play, though Yanga’s backline tightened up through the rest of the half and chances were far harder to come by.
Yanga, meanwhile, looked to stretch the play whenever possible and one such example saw Ally Mtoni send a dangerous ball through the danger area and just out of reach for Papy Kambamba.
Simba opened the scoring through a well-taken penalty by Meddie Kagere after Shomari Kapombe was adjudged to have fouled the Rwandese import in the box.
They carried the lead into half time knowing they had their rivals on the back foot and under pressure come the second half.
Yanga looked for a quick goal in the second half, but the Msimbazi Reds defence was alert to avert any incoming danger from them.
Instead, it was Simba who extended their lead after Deo Kanda found himself in the box from a counter-attack to slot home from Kagere’s backheel pass.
Yanga responded to going behind by putting together some sustained spells of pressure, but the narrow focus of their attack made it relatively easy for Simba to hold them at bay.
The Boniface Mkwasa’s men pressure finally paid off in the 50th minute when Mapinduzi Balama reduced that deficit further with a sublime finish as he cut inside onto his left foot on the edge of the area and blasted the ball home to leave Shikalo with no chance.
And the visitors were level three minutes later having benefited from an own goal from Simba midfielder Mohammed Hussein.
Then a big miss from Haruna Niyonzima three minutes after the hour mark left Simba off the hook as the former ballooned over the top from an unmarked position following Aziz Nakane’s delivery.
A few minutes later Pascal Wawa went toe-to-toe with Kanada from the left and fired a powerful drive from close-range, but the Ivorian equally thwarted the fullback.
John Bocco had an excellent chance to win it for Simba with five minutes to go, but he side-footed wide when he simply had to hit the target.
