United add to Platinum Stars’ and De Sa’s woes
SuperSport United saved their best for the closing stages to beat Platinum Stars 2-0 in their Absa Premiership encounter at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Tuesday night.
Sifiso Myeni, who replaced ineffective Dove Wome in the 76th minute, unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty box to beat Stars goalkeeper Mbongeni Mzimela in the 84th and Jeremy Brockie put matters beyond doubt deep into optional time.
For United, this hard-fought win has moved them to fifth on the standings, six points from their opening three matches, while Stars remain rooted at the foot of the pile.
On the evidence of their pedestrian performance, new Stars coach Roger de Sa is faced with a mountain to climb in the coming weeks if they are to get their campaign back on track after a woeful start in which they have lost all their opening three matches.
Stars will have an opportunity to register their first win of the season, when they host Chippa United at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on Saturday afternoon.
For SuperSport, their next league assignment is also against Chippa United next Tuesday at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, where they will be looking to move a few places up on the log.
Bernard Morrison marked his first league start for Orlando Pirates in almost a year with his first goal for the club as the Buccaneers won a second game of the new league season by beating Ajax Cape Town 1-0 on Tuesday night and increasing their haul of points to seven out of a possible nine.
Ajax remain winless after their first three games of the season and are second from bottom of the standings.
Thamsanqa Gabuza applied an all-important flick on to a long throw-in to find Morrison unmarked at the back post, where he was able to steer it home despite the effort of Ajax goalkeeper Brandon Petersen.
The goal came as early as the ninth minute of a match that reflected a lack of match fitness in both camps in this early stage of the season.
Ghana-born Morrison had been sparingly used last season by the Buccaneers. He made three starts at the beginning of the season — the last on September 27 2016 against Platinum Stars, but then a combination of a loss of form and injury did not offer him another opportunity in a league match until Tuesday night.
Pirates profited from poor marking and the early goal allowed much needed confidence into a strangely shaped team, with Thabo Matlaba floating around the midfield and Mpho Makola playing much more central than usual.
Ajax might have had an equaliser within two minutes when Thabo Mosadi picked up an errant ball and launched a counter-attack, but shot wide of Wayne Sandilands’ goal.
After that, Pirates dominated possession as Ajax looked shaky on set pieces. Gabuza should have made it 2-0 in the 27th minute, but had his effort blocked as he got the better of the visiting defence. He also had the ball in the back of the net early in the second half, but was rightly ruled offside.
Other PSL results: Chippa United 1 Baroka 3, Polokwane City 1 Bloemfontein Celtic 2 and AmaZulu 1 Maritburg United 1.