BY SABELO GWEBU
MBABANE– Mbabane Highlanders midfielder had his 33rd-minute minute shot parried into the net by Zambia goalkeeper Toaster Nsabata as Lesotho got on to a bright start away in Ndola.
However, Chipolopolo staged a comeback to finally see off Likuena Likuena 3-1 in this 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match day three played on Thursday night at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.
Zambia’s Italy-based forward Lameck Banda came off the bench to score a brace as the home side rekindled chances of qualifying for the AFCON finals to be staged in Ivory Coast next year. Coach Avram Grant was forced to replace injured captain Lubambo Musonda with Banda just after 12 minutes.
Striker Fashion Sakala leveled matters four minutes after Bereng’s goal with a superb cracker from outside the box to ensure the two teams went into the halftime break with a 1-1 score-line.
Banda put Zambia in front with a powerful header from a corner by Kings Kangwa eight minutes after the break. The Lecce player completed his brace with a 56th-minute goal after a solo effort that saw him take on a cluster of defenders before producing a robust shot to beat Sekhoane Moerane at the Lesotho sticks.
Meanwhile, victory pushes Zambia to the top of Group H with six points in three games as Lesotho remained bottom with one point.
Zambia and Lesotho will clash again on Sunday in their fourth Group H match in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Fellow group members, AFCON host Ivory Coast and Comoros face off on Friday in the other Group H match.
Ivory Coast have four points and Comoros sits on three points going into their third match of the qualifying campaign on Friday.
