Makonde Manchester United are through to the last-16 stage of the King Abraham Pre-Season KO Competition. They beat Shadani Dangerous Scorpions 5-3 at the Sambandou grounds on Saturday.
Dangerous Scorpions approached the game aggressively. That forced United to play the first 20 minutes of the game with their backs against the wall. It took the Scorpions 18 minutes to open their account. The keeper of Manchester United, Tshedza Lalumbe, mishandled the ball after Lutendo Mulondo's attempt, and Innocent Thanyani, who was waiting close by, finished off the rebound.
The Scorpions could have sealed the game soon afterwards. They squandered two clear chances in quick succession. Manchester United gained momentum with time. They found the equalizer seven minutes before the break. They were awarded a penalty after a defender of Scorpions handled the ball within his own penalty area. That was a clear penalty for United. Unarine Rambuda made no mistake from the white spot.
Both sides effected some changes to their string line-ups in the last stanza. The replacements looked to be clever moves on the part of the technical staff as the teams started to play attacking football.
The winner was determined through penalty shootout as the score was 1-1 at the end of the regulation time. Manchester United scored four from the penalty spot while Scorpions converted only two of their five chances.