AFRICAN Stars and Unam will battle it out for the top spot when they meet in an NPL Round Four match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Tuesday night.
Both sides are still undefeated and a victory for either will see them take over at the top after Tura Magic took the lead on Sunday.
Magic gained a valuable victory on the road after beating Young African 1-0 in Gobabis.
Their prolific striker Junias Theophilus scored the winning goal to maintain Tura Magic’s unbeaten start to the season and temporarily put them at the top of the log.
Magic now have 10 points from four matches – one above African Stars who have a match in hand, and Black Africa, who beat Tigers 2-1 on Sunday evening.
Unam are fourth on seven points, and they can take over at the top if they beat Stars tonight.
BA and Tigers provided an exciting spectacle despite the inclement weather which threatened to derail the match.
The rain came pouring down midway through the first half, while the stadium lights went off at halftime. Luckily the interruption was not too long and with the rain petering down to a slight drizzle, the match could continue in the second half.
Tigers opened the scoring against the run of play through former BA striker Roger Katjiteo, but two second half goals by Emilio Martin gave BA the victory.
BA did most of the attacking in the first half, with their young winger Wendell Rudath and striker McCartney Naweseb prominent.
Dynamo Fredericks missed two early chances, while Emilio Martin came close with a free kick that went narrowly wide of the goals.
Lee Roy Adams and Fredericks also missed good chances after being set up by Rudath, but it was Tigers who nearly opened the scoring when Katjiteo broke through the defence and with only BA keeper Ratanda Mbazuvara to beat, he hit the post.
Tigers, however, did open the scoring three minutes before the break when Katjiteo rounded off a quick counter attack to slam the ball home from close range.
Tigers had a great chance to go further ahead 13 minutes into the second half, but Absalom Iimbondi blasted over from close range and three minutes later BA drew level when Martin headed in their equaliser from a corner.
With Benjamin Nenkavu in fine form, Tigers had more opportunities to regain the lead but Katjiteo and Llewellyn Stanley failed to convert their chances, and they were made to pay when Martin headed home BA’s winner from a Jordan Haimbili free kick with six minutes remaining.
In the early match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Sunday, Pirates suffered a 2-1 home defeat to the hard-running Mighty Gunners.
Pirates took the lead through a Gunners own goal, but Gunners came back strongly and goals by Pineas Jacob and Indji Moses put them 2-1 ahead by the break.
Pirates pushed hard in the second half, but Gunners defended superbly to hold on for a valuable away win.
In other matches on Sunday, Life Fighters got their first win of the season and moved off the foot of the table after beating Rundu Chiefs 2-0, while the coastal sides both lost away matches with Blue Waters going down 1-0 to Young Chiefs in Oshakati, while Eleven Arrows lost 2-0 to Chief Santos in Tsumeb.
The Stars v Unam match starts at 20h00 on Tuesday night and will be preceded by Civics v Citizens at 18h00.
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