Esperance head coach Maher Kanzari has praised Simba midfielder Yusuph Kagoma for delivering an outstanding performance in the CAF Champions League match between the two sides last weekend, which ended in a 2–2 draw.
In that match, Simba took a two-goal lead in the first half, with Kagoma scoring the second goal and acting as the backbone of Simba’s midfield before suffering an injury that forced coach Steve Barker to substitute him in the second half.
Kanzari described Kagoma as the player who gave them the hardest time in the opening 45 minutes, adding that his departure brought them relief in the second half, during which they managed to level the score.
“We had our plan to attack early, but the middle of the pitch was very difficult. To be honest, that number 21 player (Kagoma) controlled the game together with his teammate number eight (Allasane Kanté). They disrupted our plans,” Kanzari was quoted by Mwanaspoti.
As a result of that dominance in midfield, Esperance completely failed to break down Simba in the first half, a situation that saw the Msimbazi Reds go into the break leading 2–0, with goals scored by Shomary Kapombe and Yusuph Kagoma.
Match statistics explain why Kagoma was such a threat to Esperance. The midfielder completed all 32 of his attempted passes, recording a 100 percent pass completion rate.
Kagoma completed 10 out of 10 accurate passes in Esperance’s final third, directly contributing to Simba’s attacking build-up and putting the opposing team under pressure.
In switching the tempo of the game, Kagoma showed great ability by completing three out of three accurate long passes, all of which reached their intended targets and helped Simba move the ball quickly from defense to attack.
Although he did not create many clear-cut scoring chances, his tactical contribution was crucial, with statistics showing a chance-creation involvement score of 0.02, an indication of his participation in the process of creating opportunities.
Defensively, Kagoma was involved in four one-on-one duels, winning one ground duel out of four, while committing only two fouls in the minutes he played, without causing any situation that led to a goal or a dangerous shot against his team.
Despite playing only 58 minutes before being replaced by Naby Camara, Kagoma remained Simba’s highest-rated player in the match, earning an average rating of 7.8 out of 10.
