The biggest game ended in a draw. This was a game that demanded a change in formation and Brandts dully obliged. It was more tactical than entertaining and taking into account that he had joined the team a week ago he will be pleased with a draw.
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​3v3 and pressing​
 

As was predicted by Trequartista a 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 meant that the triangles went head to head. Simba came out on top in this midfield battle during the first half. Yanga struggled and though the idea to switch to a 4-3-3 was right the execution was poor.
Simba pressed well and each of the trio knew exactly how to go about doing their job. Kazimoto stuck on Chuji, Kiemba on Khalfan and Mkude on Niyonzima. They did rotate when one was out of position to make sure that they maintained the necessary cover. The pressing was so effective that midway through the first half Niyonzima spent a lot of time just wondering trying to shake off Mkude.
 

On the other hand Yanga had problems both in the offensive and defensive phase. Khalfan did track his man well but he was poor on the ball often taking too long on the ball or misplacing passes. Niyonzima was the complete opposite. He was comfortable on the ball but his positioning during the defensive phase was poor. He did not remain goal side of Mkude and also tried to play higher up almost occupying the space in the hole temporary making Yanga look like a 4-2-3-1. With that it meant that what was supposed to be a 3 v 3 was now effectively a 3v2 when Simba had possession.
 

Later on during the half Yanga made the change bringing on Domayo for Kiza with Khalfan moving to the left wing. Yanga’s midfield triangle was now made of Chuji, Niyonzima and Domayo, a midfield trio that should have started from the beginning. At the same time Niyonzima was called to the technical bench and immediately he started staying goal side of Mkude when Yanga didn’t have the ball. With that Yanga finished the half better.
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​4-3-3 to 4-4-2​
 

After halftime Yanga came out deployed in a 4-4-2 with Niyonzima starting on the left wing but as the half progressed he switched to the right wing. The switch to 4-4-2 was puzzling because Brandts had effectively solved Yanga’s first half problems. He should have shown more faith in his own judgment and stuck with the 4-3-3 for at least the first ten minutes of the second half.
 

The switch did however seem to rejuvenate Yanga and their performance was much better. It seemed that the idea was to get Niyonzima on the ball as he now saw more of the ball starting first on the left wing before moving to the right. The second half was however riddled with stoppages, dubious referring decisions and reckless fouling.  Yanga’s two clear scoring chances came from long balls one from Twite and the other from the goalkeeper. As also predicted in the preview, Yanga took no less than 4 short corners with two taken short followed with a shot from Mwasika.

​Niyonzima
He is a player who is very comfortable on the ball but this game has shown that he needs to work on his defensive game. This is the second game where his inability to press the opponents pivot has left Yanga short in midfield. The game against Mtibwa he started by pressing Nditi but then lost his way and Nditi managed to control the game. In yesterday’s game he failed to get goal side and this is what made Yanga lose the midfield battle. Secondly, he seems to rotate too much either as a winger or as a central midfield player and his positioning between the lines seems he sees himself as a playmaker. Yanga need to find a position that will accommodate him and should either do much to brush up his defensive skills or simply ask him not to defend.
 

Conclusion​
 

Brandts recognized the need to change formation so as to compete in midfield. Unfortunately it is his players that failed to carry out the instructions and having seemingly solved the problem he decided to revert to the old formation. Simba on the other hand showed that the midfield trio fully assimilated the tactical instructions. It was a good tactical battle in the first half but r ended acrimoniously in the end.