Defending champions Nyasa Big Bullets have opened a four-point gap after beating Silver Strikers 3-1 at Kamuzu Stadium while second-placed Blue Eagles drew at home against Kamuzu Barracks on Saturday.

Bullets have 32 points while Eagles second with 28 points with both teams playing 12 games.

Babatunde (L) captured in the thick of action against Silver

At Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Bullets scored three goals in the first 23 minutes with midfielder Patrick Mwaungulu and Babatunde Adepoju registering a brace.

Silver Strikers were disorganised in the first 10 minutes of the game as their midfield did not tick.

Bullets capitalised on those mistakes and outplayed Silver Strikers. The first goal came in the 15th minute after defender Haddy Ng’andu fouled Mwaungulu on the edge of the penalty box to give Bullets a free kick.

Mwaungulu stepped up to score from the free-kick.

Bullets kept pressuring Silver and three minutes later, Mwaungulu beats left-back Mark Fodya and his cross found Adepoju who doubled the lead with a brilliant header to beat Thom.

The third goal came in the 25th minute when Silver defender Nickson Mwase handled the ball inside the penalty box. Adepoju stepped up and converted the spot sending Thom the wrong direction

Sensing danger, Silver made changes after 27 minutes, bringing in Robwell Robert and Tathedwa Willard for Blessings Tembo and Fodya, respectively.

Following the changes, Silver reorganised to contain the pressure.

A good part of the second half favoured the visitors, but they could not score. They were so close to scoring through Stein Davie after being set by Kaonga, but he missed in a one-on-one situation with Bullets goalkeeper Richard Chimbamba at his mercy.

Davie came again at 89 minutes when he won a loose ball and scored the consolation goal. He came close to scoring in the 91st minute, but his header inside the penalty box went off target.

Bullets head coach Kallisto Pasuwa was delighted to have collected three points, but said his charges did not play well in the second half.

“As I said, we are building a team and now we are at 45 percent, I am confident that slowly we will be a good side.”

Silver assistant coach Macdonald Yobe said his side started slowly and it was difficult to contain Bullets.

“I am disappointed with our play mainly in the first half. We made changes that helped us but it was not enough to win the game,” he said.

His team is still on fifth position with 16 points from 11 games.

At Nankhaka in Lilongwe, Blues Eagles failed close in on Bullets’ lead as they drew 0-0 against Kamuzu Barracks while at Chitowe Stadium in Salima, Mafco scored beat Rumphi United 3-0.

Goals from Mafco came from Dan Chimbalanga and a brace from Peter Kaonga.

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