Match Report
The points column showed no gap: 4 apiece, Burundi 4th and Malawi 3rd. Recent form told a different story for Burundi: only 46th in the league over the last five rounds despite sitting 4th. Against a league average of 1.1 goals per team per game, Burundi ran at 0.67 scored and 1.83 conceded, Malawi at 1 and 1.83.
Burundi arrived off three straight defeats. Five consecutive defeats weighed on Malawi. The five-game form split read 6/15 points for Burundi against 0/15 for Malawi.
A. Manet took charge of the match — our records show 5 games refereed with an average of 2.4 yellow cards per game. Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan staged the fixture, a ground that holds 50,000. It was 0-0 at the break — the second half brought no more goals and it finished 0-0.