Zambia on Thursday evening rallied to thump Lesotho 3-1 in the Group H tie on day-three of the 2023 Africa Cup qualifying campaign.
Italy-based forward Lameck Banda came off the bench to score a brace at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium as Chipolopolo rekindled chances of qualifying to the Africa Cup.
Coach Avram Grant was forced to replace injured captain Lubambo Musonda with Banda just after 12 minutes.
Zambia went behind in the 33rd minute when keeper Toaster Nsabata parried Tsoarelo Bereng’s freekick into his own net.
Striker Fashion Sakala leveled four minutes later with a superb cracker from outside the box to ensure the two teams went into the half time break with a 1-1 scoreline.
Banda put Zambia in front with 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.
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 on Sunday in their fourth Group H match in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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.
I expected better but lets wait for the Joburg game
Well done Chipolopolo. Nsabata made a mistake, yes, but he should not be hounded out of the team. All players make mistakes, so hopefully the young man has learnt not to do that again. Even Fashion Sakala made a mistake when he tried to curl the ball into the top corner of the goal, and he missed when it was supposed to be a certain 4th goal for Zambia. Should Fashion Sakala also be hounded out of the team? Mistakes happen, let’s leave it at that.
On Sunday,Avram Grant should use Lawrence Mulenga in goal and not that useless Toaster Nsabata!
It was a toasted goal. James Phiri was known for being poor at crosses but he was a good goalkeeper. Toaster should just do his homework