Defensive Blunder yet again costs Ethiopia

In the opening round of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers, the Ethiopian national team suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Malawi at Bingu national stadium.

Wubetu Abate mostly stuck to starters in AFCON 2021 with the two major alterations being in goal and in the frontline, With both Teklmariam Shanko and Getaneh Kebede left out of the squad deputy goalkeeper Fasil G/Micheal started between the sticks while Abubeker Nasser was given charge to lead the line for Ethiopia.

Once again the Ethiopian side didn’t start the game well, there were several instants in the first half where players made several fatal defensive errors individually as well as in a collective sense.

Both of Malawi’s goals in the first half were a pure testament to such clumsy decisions, both goals coming from penalty kicks were the consequence of a miscued pass and a desperate action from the center backs to rectify them.

Ghabadinho Mhango converted on both occasions in the 10th and 34th minute to send the home crowd into jubilation mode.

“The Walia’s” being two goals down were once again positive in their play, dominating the possession but they were once again poor once they entered the offensive third.

Ethiopia’s first attempt on targeť came in the 42nd minute as Dawa Hotesa’s inch perfect cross was met by Abubeker Nasser, but his effort was saved by the Malawi goalie.

Wubetu Abate introduced Gatoch Panom and Shemeles Bekele to galvanize the midfield, and those two changes proved to be the turning point as Ethiopia were the dominant side in the second half.

In the second half, Abubeker Nasser was dropping deep to receive the ball and take on people, his clever movement with and without the ball created havoc on the Malawi defense.

But in the 68th minute “The Walia’s” were awarded a penalty kick after second half substitute Cherenet Guggsa was brought down in Malawi’s box, Abubeker Nasser calmly slotted home from the resulting kick to lift his side.

The remaining 20 minutes witnessed the Ethiopian side pushing hard for the equalizer but they couldn’t create those clear cut chances with their effort mainly restricted to playing the ball in front of Malawi’s defensive block.

With the other fixture in “Group D” between Egypt and Guinea taking place later today, Ethiopia currently bottom of the group will be taking on Egypt, the runners up of the 2021 edition of Afcon in four days times at the Bingu national stadium.

Ethiopian Premier League

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2
3
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5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Round 1
20 Sep 2024 00:00
CBE
-
-
BUN
20 Sep 2024 16:00
MEK
0
1
HOS
20 Sep 2024 19:00
AMK
1
2
DIR
21 Sep 2024 19:00
WAU
0
1
BDR
22 Sep 2024 16:00
ELE
2
3
WOD
22 Sep 2024 19:00
KDG
1
2
FSK
23 Sep 2024 16:00
ADA
2
3
SHI
23 Sep 2024 19:00
SID
0
1
HAW
Round 2
25 Sep 2024 16:00
EIC
0
0
AMK
26 Sep 2024 16:00
FSK
1
1
MEK
26 Sep 2024 19:00
BUN
0
0
ELE
27 Sep 2024 09:30
HAW
1
1
SHI
27 Sep 2024 16:00
KDG
2
1
WAU
27 Sep 2024 19:00
BDR
0
1
ADA
28 Sep 2024 16:00
MEC
1
2
SID
28 Sep 2024 19:00
DIR
4
1
WOD
Round 3
30 Sep 2024 16:00
KDG
0
1
MEK
30 Sep 2024 19:00
EIC
0
0
ELE
1 Oct 2024 16:00
FSK
0
0
SHI
1 Oct 2024 19:00
BDR
2
0
HOS
2 Oct 2024 16:00
BUN
3
1
HAW
2 Oct 2024 19:00
MEC
3
1
WOD
3 Oct 2024 16:00
CBE
3
1
AMK
3 Oct 2024 19:00
WAU
0
1
SID
Round 4
19 Oct 2024 16:00
HOS
1
2
HAW
19 Oct 2024 19:00
MEK
1
1
MEC
20 Oct 2024 16:00
SHI
1
1
DIR
20 Oct 2024 19:00
CBE
2
3
KDG
21 Oct 2024 16:00
WOD
2
1
BUN
21 Oct 2024 19:00
ADA
1
1
FSK
22 Oct 2024 16:00
ELE
1
0
BDR
22 Oct 2024 19:00
SID
1
0
EIC
Round 5
24 Oct 2024 16:00
MEK
3
2
DIR
24 Oct 2024 19:00
CBE
1
1
FSK
25 Oct 2024 16:00
WAU
0
3
MEC
25 Oct 2024 19:00
ADA
2
0
HAW
26 Oct 2024 09:30
AMK
1
0
BDR
26 Oct 2024 16:00
KDG
0
0
EIC
26 Oct 2024 19:00
SID
2
0
BUN
27 Oct 2024 16:00
ELE
0
0
HOS
27 Oct 2024 21:09
WOD
1
0
SHI
Round 6
29 Oct 2024 16:00
EIC
1
0
WAU
29 Oct 2024 19:00
FSK
0
1
AMK
30 Oct 2024 16:00
BDR
2
0
SID
30 Oct 2024 19:00
BUN
-
-
MEK
31 Oct 2024 16:00
MEC
-
-
CBE
31 Oct 2024 19:00
HOS
0
1
WOD
1 Nov 2024 16:00
DIR
-
-
ADA
1 Nov 2024 19:00
HAW
-
-
ELE
Round 7
3 Nov 2024 19:00
KDG
-
-
AMK
4 Nov 2024 16:00
MEC
-
-
ADA
4 Nov 2024 19:00
EIC
-
-
MEK
5 Nov 2024 09:30
BDR
-
-
WOD
5 Nov 2024 16:00
FSK
-
-
ELE
5 Nov 2024 19:00
DIR
-
-
HOS
6 Nov 2024 16:00
BUN
-
-
SHI
6 Nov 2024 19:00
WAU
-
-
CBE
Round 8
23 Nov 2024 16:00
ADA
-
-
EIC
23 Nov 2024 19:00
AMK
-
-
WAU
24 Nov 2024 16:00
SID
-
-
KDG
25 Nov 2024 09:30
HAW
-
-
DIR
25 Nov 2024 16:00
ELE
-
-
MEC
26 Nov 2024 09:30
HOS
-
-
BUN
26 Nov 2024 16:00
WOD
-
-
FSK
26 Nov 2024 19:00
SHI
-
-
BDR
Round 9
28 Nov 2024 16:00
CBE
-
-
EIC
29 Nov 2024 16:00
SID
-
-
FSK
29 Nov 2024 19:00
AMK
-
-
MEC
30 Nov 2024 09:30
ELE
-
-
DIR
30 Nov 2024 16:00
ADA
-
-
BUN
30 Nov 2024 19:00
MEK
-
-
BDR
1 Dec 2024 16:00
WOD
-
-
HAW
1 Dec 2024 19:00
SHI
-
-
HOS
Round 10
3 Dec 2024 16:00
DIR
-
-
SID
3 Dec 2024 19:00
MEC
-
-
KDG
4 Dec 2024 16:00
BUN
-
-
AMK
4 Dec 2024 19:00
BDR
-
-
CBE
5 Dec 2024 09:30
SHI
-
-
ELE
5 Dec 2024 19:00
FSK
-
-
WAU
6 Dec 2024 16:00
HAW
-
-
MEK
6 Dec 2024 19:00
HOS
-
-
ADA
Round 11
8 Dec 2024 16:00
BDR
-
-
KDG
8 Dec 2024 19:00
DIR
-
-
CBE
9 Dec 2024 16:00
HAW
-
-
AMK
9 Dec 2024 19:00
HOS
-
-
SID
10 Dec 2024 16:00
WOD
-
-
ADA
10 Dec 2024 19:00
BUN
-
-
WAU
11 Dec 2024 16:00
MEC
-
-
EIC
11 Dec 2024 19:00
SHI
-
-
MEK
Round 12
13 Dec 2024 16:00
AMK
-
-
SID
13 Dec 2024 19:00
FSK
-
-
HAW
14 Dec 2024 16:00
WAU
-
-
ADA
14 Dec 2024 19:00
KDG
-
-
ELE
15 Dec 2024 09:30
MEC
-
-
HOS
15 Dec 2024 19:00
CBE
-
-
MEK
16 Dec 2024 16:00
BDR
-
-
DIR
16 Dec 2024 19:00
EIC
-
-
SHI
Round 13
18 Dec 2024 19:00
ADA
-
-
KDG
19 Dec 2024 16:00
MEK
-
-
WAU
19 Dec 2024 19:00
SID
-
-
CBE
20 Dec 2024 16:00
SHI
-
-
MEC
20 Dec 2024 19:00
HOS
-
-
FSK
21 Dec 2024 09:30
WOD
-
-
EIC
21 Dec 2024 16:00
HAW
-
-
BDR
21 Dec 2024 19:00
DIR
-
-
BUN

Standing Table

#
Club
P
W
D
L
Pt
1
6
4
0
2
12
2
6
4
0
2
12
3
6
3
0
3
9
4
5
2
2
1
8
5
4
2
1
1
7
6
4
2
1
1
7
7
4
2
1
1
7
8
5
2
1
2
7
9
5
2
1
2
7
10
5
2
1
2
7
11
6
1
4
1
7
12
5
1
3
1
6
13
5
1
3
1
6
14
5
1
3
1
6
15
3
1
1
1
4
16
4
1
1
2
4
17
5
1
1
3
4
18
5
0
0
5
0

Top scorers chart

#
Player
Played
Goals
1
Mekele 70 Enderta
5
5
2
Diredawa Ketema
4
4
3
Wolaitta Dicha
6
4
4
Diredawa Ketema
4
4
5
Sidama Bunna
6
3
6
Ethiopia Nigd Bank
3
3
7
Bahir Dar Ketema
6
3
8
Adama Ketema
4
3
9
Kidus Giorgis
5
3
10
Fasil Kenema
5
2

2024/25 Competitions

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CAF Champions League
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CAF Confederation Cup
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Ethiopian Cup
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Ethiopian Higher League
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Ethiopian Premier League
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Ethiopian U-20 Premier League
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Ethiopian Women's Higher League
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Ethiopian Womens Premier League
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