Bloemfontein Celtic moved into sixth place on the Premier Soccer League (PSL) log with a clinical and well-polished 2-0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening.
In other matches, Black Leopards beat struggling Golden Arrows, Ajax Cape Town and Supersport United played to a goalless draw, Silver Stars beat Benoni Premier United, Santos subdued Mamelodi Sundowns to a goalless draw, and Maritzburg United defeated Jomo Cosmos.
Celtic opened the scoring as early as the third minute when Moses Spandeel struck an accurate free kick that beat Chiefs goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez.
As evenly balanced as the match might have been in the middle stanza, Celtic clinched the maximum three points when substitute striker Lebohang Kukame scored the winner with a thunderous strike in the 85th minute.
Chiefs had plenty of opportunities but poor finishing let them down as former Celtic strongman Siyabonga Nkosi and Rotson Kilambe could not break the defence of their former teammates.
The hosts went into the half-time break a solitary goal ahead but could have had a two-goal cushion if Carlo Scott’s strike in the 45th minute had been allowed to stand after Scott was adjudged to be offside from what was a clearly legitimate goal.
Chiefs could have drawn level in the 46th minute when substitute David Obua missed with a header from close range.
As Chiefs mounted hordes of pressure on their hosts in the latter stages of the second half, Celtic were comfortable in absorbing the pressure and picking up the crumbs for their counter-attacks. Scott almost put his name on the scorers’ sheet in the 61st minute but his double shot at goal was well saved by Fernadez.
With Chiefs again on the attack, the Celtics defence took command of their area and with a long-range clearance Kukame was at the end of another counter-attack that saw him bury the ball in the bottom right-hand corner to give Celtic the two-goal margin and, ultimately, the three points.
Leopards demolish Arrows
Black Leopards beat struggling Golden Arrows 3-0 in their fast and entertaining PSL match played at Thohoyandou Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Leopards’ prolific striker Rudzani Ramudzuli scored as early as the first minute with a clinical header from a defence-splitting pass from Fisher Gondowe.
The hosts led 1-0 at half-time.
In the second half the Leopards took over from where they left off in the first half, dominating Arrows and visiting the goal mouth on several occasions, aiming to increase their solitary goal lead.
A minute into the second half, Leopards striker Mulondo Sikhwivhilu increased their tally to two goals after being laid on a pass by Luvhengo Mngomeni, putting another smile on the faces of the die-hard Leopards Leopards supporters.
Leopards midfielder Walter Ramulondi scored the third and last goal in the 87th minute making sure that Leopards climb the PSL log by three positions from 13th place to 10th.
Leopards’ new coach Mlungisi Ngubane had enjoyed victories for two consecutive weeks as he steered his team into the quarterfinals of the Telkom Cup and now collected three points at home to impress his bosses.
United, Ajax share spoils
Ajax Cape Town hauled cup specialists Supersport United to a goalless draw in their PSL encounter played at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Wednesday evening.
It was a game where both sides played half-heartedly as they traded performances in the different halves. Hosts United dominated in the first half but failed to beat determined Ajax goalkeeper Andre Petim.
In the second half the Urban Warriors also came back strongly to dominate the game, but United goalkeeper Andre Arendse was steadfast and refused the visitors any scoring chances.
At the end United coach Pitso Mosimane was a disappointed man because his team had dropped two valuable points at home, even though Mosimane has gone on record as saying that his team’s concentration is on the league. From eight matches, United have only managed to collect 13 points — from three wins, one loss and four draws.
Ajax have collected nine points from games, with one win, two losses and six draws.
Over the weekend United lost to Black Leopards in the Telkom Cup and now, with two points lost, it has become a headache for Mosimane.
Stars maintain record
Silver Stars maintained their impressive winning record at home when they beat struggling Benoni Premier United 1-0 at the Royal Bafokeng Sport Palace on Wednesday evening.
Stars were leading 1-0 at half-time after striker Simba Marumo scored in the 40th minute.
Owen de Gama, the Stars coach, keeps on proving his critics wrong by registering more points at home to keep abreast of all 16 teams in the league. Stars are perched on top of the log.
United coach Sonas Malope tried all his attacking ideas in the second half, desperately trying to level matters, but his boys failed to crack the solid defence of Silver Stars.
From this win Stars are smiling with 18 points on top of the log, while rookies United are already in danger of going back to the Mvela Golden League with a measly seven points from nine matches, including three losses, four draws and one win.
Santos, Sundowns draw
Santos managed to subdue the big-spending Mamelodi Sundowns to a goalless draw in their PSL match at Greenpoint Stadium on Wednesday night.
It was a hard-fought and extremely tactical encounter with both sides cautious of conceding first, while attacking was difficult with the steadfast defences.
Santos enjoyed more of the play in the first half while playing into a strong wind but could not find the necessary breakthrough against their visitors.
In true tactical fashion, there was little that separated the sides. In an uneventful 90 minutes only three yellow cards were issued — one each to Lerato Chabangu and Tyren Arendse of Sundowns, while the other went the way of Santos.
Arendse, a former Santos player, had a good opportunity to take home the points for his side but from close range he blasted the ball over the top.
Dipsy Selolwane of Santos and fellow striker Jonathan Amorgan worked hard up front but failed to breach the well-organised Sundowns defence.
Even Sundowns found the going hard up front as they too could not break the rock-solid Santos defence led by veteran Santos defender Edries Burton and Musa Otieno.
Maritzburg in seven-goal thriller
Maritzburg United produced an inspired second-half performance to defeat Jomo Cosmos 4-3 in a PSL thriller played at a windy Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday night.
The win gave them a boost after they were beaten 4-2 by Pirates in the Telkom Knockout last week.
United’s goals came from the boots of Michael Magaladi, who scored an own goal in the Bucs game, with a brilliant strike in the 38th minute to take the game to half-time at 1-0.
It was the fomer Silver Stars wonderboy who doubled United’s score with a nicely taken goal in the 53rd minute. Former Kaizer Chiefs goal poacher Kabamba Musasa tripled United’s score when he pounced in the 82nd minute.
A brace in the end by flying Zambian international Chris Katongo saved the visitors from a 3-0 humiliation. Those goals came in the 85th and 87th minutes. — Sapa