Bloemfontein Celtic and Golden Arrows played out an exciting goalless draw in an entertaining Premier Soccer League (PSL) encounter at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night.
Celtic, fresh from wins over Chiefs and Pirates in the SAA Supa8 and a 1-1 draw away to Ajax, just could not break down a stubborn Arrows defence on a cold wet evening in front of 8 000 fans.
Arrows goalkeeper Kakonga Kalililo was named man of the match while his Celtic counterpart, Postnet Omony, was equally impressive.
Arrows, with a vital away point at what Celtic coach Paul Dolezar calls an impregnable fortress, will help cement their status as PSL achievers this season, while Celtic are just above mid-table.
The result was a fair indication of the run of play, with territory and possession evenly split.
Santos unbeaten no more
Santos lost their unbeaten record when they went down 1-0 in the local derby against Ajax Cape Town in a PSL match played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night.
Santos were the better side, but their strikers were weak and spoiled many chances that ultimately cost them the spoils.
In the 78th minute, the Santos defence was up the field to try to score the elusive goal, but the ball went to Ajax’s Franklyn Cale. He easily flipped it over the head of stranded goalkeeper Brenden Wardle, who was caught off his line, outside the penalty box.
Earlier, in the 24th minute, Stanton Lewis broke through for Ajax, but he shot well wide of the far upright in the first real action of the match.
Santos were awarded a free kick five minutes later and the ball was sent over by Marawaan Bantam, but Musa Otieno’s header scrapped the crossbar.
Santos were doing much more of the attacking, and in the 38th minute, Thembile Kanono ran through but tried to shoot himself instead of passing to Carlo Scott on the left, with no Ajax defenders near him.
However, in the 58th minute, Scott — with an open goal — kicked wide anyway, and two minutes later it was Ruben Cloete who also missed the target.
Ajax came close 73rd minute when Wilfred Mugeyi’s header from a cross skimmed the upright, but they did not have to wait long as Cale punished Santos minutes later.
Stars, Cosmos play to draw
Silver Stars and Jomo Cosmos laboured to a 1-1 draw in a PSL game played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Wednesday night.
The match was played before a partisan home crowd.
Stars striker Zamuxolo Ngalo frightened Jomo Sono and his players when he scored as early as the third minute. That score line remained for the rest of the opening half.
Sono gave his team a tongue-lashing during the interval and they came back for the second 45 minutes a different team altogether.
It came as no surprise when Cosmos striker Christopher Katango equalised midway through the second half, to the relief of Sono and the rest of his players.
Both coaches then made several changes in a bid to earn all three points, but both goalkeepers were more than up to the task of making sure they did not concede any more goals.
Stars now move to 11th position on the PSL log with four points from four games, while Cosmos have collected just two points from their opening five fixtures and languish at the bottom of the table. — Sapa