Ajax Cape Town gained three points with a 2-1 local derby win against Santos at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night, but the general feeling afterwards was that it was an undeserving victory.
Although they were lacklustre and scored more on opportunity than design, they would be the first to say that, on the other hand, if one doesn’t grab one’s chances, one deserves to lose.
Ajax can thank their reserve goalkeeper, Andre Petim — their regular ‘keeper, Moeneeb Josephs, is suspended after being red-carded against Supersport last Wednesday — as he brought off several excellent saves.
Santos had an excellent first half and should have been leading by several early goals instead of the one that they got.
Morne Visser, playing his first game for the home side, was unlucky on several occasions, although he did score in the 33rd minute with a powerful shot that flew high into the net. Otherwise, he was also guilty of some poor shooting.
In the 13th minute, a corner kick was headed on by Visser, but Petim tipped the ball over the bar.
At the end, Thembinkosi Fanteni’s shot was brilliantly saved by a diving Jason Barnard.
In the 45th minute, Marawan Bantam broke through, but his shot went straight at Petim.
Santos kept up the pressure and in the 46th minute Petim again saved superbly from another Bantam attempt. Six minutes, later the ‘keeper pulled off a good save from a powerful point-blank shot from Bantam.
The game swung the other way and Mulekelayi Kanku missed a sitter 5m from the goal line when he scooped the ball over the bar.
Ajax levelled the score in the 67th minute when Fanteni’s shot from a corner kick was adjudged to go over the line by a defender who hooked it out. The assistant ref ruled it a goal.
Ajax took the lead in the 75th minute when their ‘keeper was penalised for picking up a back pass 8m from the goal line, and Brent Carelse pounced on the rebound to hammer home. — Sapa