Langton Nyakwenda BULAWAYO giants Highlanders invaded the capital city for the first time this season with their tails up, and they left with their ego intact following an impressive Castle Lager Premier Soccer League show at The Heart Stadium yesterday. Champions Simba Bhora edged onto the top of the log standings on superior goals scored despite being held 0-0 at home by GreenFuel at Wadzanai Stadium in Shamva. Simba Bhora have the same number of points (19) with MWOS, who could return to the top should they avoid defeat away to Chicken Inn at Luveve Stadium this afternoon. Troubled CAPS United also avoided defeat yesterday but they could only settle for a goalless stalemate against ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga Stadium. There were no goals too in the battle between platinum miners FC Platinum and Ngezi Platinum Stars at Mandava Stadium. Apart from Bosso’s two goals at The Heart, the only other team to find the target in yesterday’s Matchday 10 fixtures were TelOne, albeit through a hotly disputed injury-time penalty by the league’s leading scorer Washington Navaya. Navaya, scoring his eighth goal in 10 matches, handed TelOne a 1-0 triumph over Bikita Minerals, who felt hard done by referee Mhaka Magare’s decision to award the hosts a penalty late on. Magare and his assistants needed police escort to leave Ascot Stadium, amid huge protests from Bikita Minerals officials and fans. At the Heart, Bosso even had a goal disallowed inside the opening two minutes, but leading scorer Reason Sibanda gave the 2006 champions every reason to smile when he thrust them in front a few seconds later. Sibanda then volleyed home his second of the day in the 69th minute to take his tally to five goals. The win propelled Highlanders into third place, with 17 points, after Ngezi Platinum Stars failed to win against FC Platinum at Mandava yesterday. Bosso arrived in Harare on the back of a fine eight-game unbeaten run, which stretched to nine after yesterday’s victory. Their surprise Matchday One 1-0 defeat by log leaders MWOS remains the only major dent that Zambian coach Kelvin Kaindu has suffered so far. Since that defeat on March 2, Bosso have registered four wins and five draws. Yesterday’s win was Bosso’s first on the road this season, away from their Barbourfields fortress. Highlanders and Yadah have now met 13 times in the league since The Miracle Boys’ promotion in 2018. In those meetings, Bosso now have eight wins, Yadah are still on three, while two of the clashes ended in stalemates. However, Highlanders did not get this win on a silver platter as Yadah piled on the pressure, especially after the introduction of Mandla Mlilo, King Nadolo and Shingai Masukuta in the second half. They had two efforts cleared off the line before they were denied by the post late in the second half. Kaindu paid tribute to his defenders for repelling incessant attacks by Yadah, especially in the last 20 minutes of the game. The Zambian gaffer described two-goal hero Sibanda as the best player in the league at the moment. “More credit I think goes to our back four and the goalkeeper, the resilience that they showed,” he said. “I think when they made the substitutions in the last 20 minutes, they dominated play but we defended well.” Slowly, Highlanders have been ascending on the log. “The good thing is we managed to score two goals and also kept a clean sheet,” said Kaindu. “We managed to pick up a victory that was elusive for us in terms of travelling. But I think this is a big win for us and we just hope that we remain focused.” Kaindu heaped praise on Sibanda and his striking partner Brighton Ncube. “Credit goes to our two strikers (Ncube and Sibanda) in terms of the way that they are scoring and how they are able to create a goal for each other,” he said. “To be honest, Reason struggled last season when we had to put him on loan to go and play for a different team (Arenel Movers). But his coming back has totally changed Reason and at the moment I feel he’s the best player in the league. “He’s been pushing, he’s been consistent, he helps us with aerial goals, he helps us to create, he’s helping us to defend, he’s also helping us to score. He’s almost complete and we just hope that he keeps up the momentum.” Yadah coach Ikabort Masocha felt the hosts paid dearly for allowing Bosso to dominate the opening half. “For me, it was a case of us playing badly in the first half and coming back strongly in the second half,” said Masocha. Yadah went into the match sitting one place above the relegation zone, with eight points from nine matches. They ended the day in the red zone following the defeat. It was a reverse for Yadah, who were coming from a stunning 2-1 victory against 2023 champions Ngezi at Baobab Stadium in a mid-week assignment. Nadolo and Masukuta came close to finding a breakthrough for Yadah. Kaindu then responded in the 62nd minute, bringing on Gillian Nyathi and Tendai Muvuti for the Mushore brothers Mason and McKinnon. Crucially, Bosso kept their shape, with Luckmore Mutumbi and Arthur Ndlovu brilliant all afternoon in the heart of their defence.