TEMPERS FLARE AS CITY LOSE CUP GAME
Frustrated Benni gets physical with coaches from Costa do Sol
AFEISTY Benni McCarthy handed out a slap and was involved in a tunnel bust-up with the coaches of Mozambican club Costa do Sol as Cape Town City lost a tempestuous tie at the Athlone Stadium to be knocked out of the African Confederation Cup.
The City coach was involved in a touchline war of words with the opposing bench in the first half that then escalated into a punch-up during which he slapped Arturo Faria, the technical director of Maputo club.
McCarthy then confronted his opposite number, Fabio Costas, in the tunnel at half time, barging his shoulder into the Argentine and trading insults in Spanish.
It all went unseen by Ethiopian referee Belay Tadesse, whose failure to punish some bone-crunching tackles by both clubs saw tempers spill over several times.
The players also traded blows on the field in four separate skirmishes, notably after a horror tackle left Thabo Nodada bleeding from the mouth.
The game ended 2-1 to Costa do Sol who advanced on the away goals rule after losing to City in the first leg 10 days ago in Maputo.
Tshepo Gumede handled the ball as he attempted a tackle in his own penalty box to give away a penalty right at the start of the match.
The spot-kick was hammered against the crossbar by Isac Decarvalho but Terrence Tisdell followed up with a diving header to direct the rebound into the back past Shu-Aib Walters.
The penalty came after an initial midfield slip-up by Kwanda Mngonyama, who was playing in the centre of midfield in a makeshift side but struggled throughout the game with insult added to injury in the second half when he was booked for a tackle committed by Zukile Kewuti.
Kewuti equalised for City in the 15th minute after Nodada had burst down the right, played it inside to Nana Akosah-Bempah, who almost lost control before the ball went to Kewuti for an expert finish.
Nodada was one-on-one with the goalkeeper not long afterwards but slipped as he tried to go around him and lost out on a golden opportunity.
City, even with resting regulars, were much the better team but kept up the South African habit of making life difficult for themselves against mediocre teams in African club competition matches.
The second half saw an atrocious kung fu-style attempted tackle by City centre back Taariq Fielies on Tisdell that brought out a collective gasp from the small crowd, but inexplicably he got away with it as the referee did not even book him.
The winner came with seven minutes to go from a corner as Walters was beaten at the back post by a power header from substitute Kimo.
Meanwhile, Mamelodi Sundowns eased into the group stages of the African Champions League with a deserved 2-0 victory over Rayon Sports of Rwanda in soggy conditions at the Loftus Stadium yesterday.
Goals from Wayne Arendse and Sibusiso Vilakazi booked a group stage place for The Brazilians, but they might have had many more goals as they dominated the fixture, taking the tie by the same scoreline on aggregate.
Torrential rain before kickoff left large puddles of water on the pitch and, particularly in the first half, made flowing, passing football almost impossible.
Those puddles drained in the second period and Sundowns were able to play their passing game, opening up the Rwandan side almost at will, but without the finishing touch.
Sundowns were denied what looked like a clear penalty when Percy Tau was hacked down in the Rayon Sport box, but referee Jackson Pavaza from Namibia waved play on.
The deadlock was broken on 34 minutes when Tau’s corner was turned home by Arendse on the volley.
Sundowns are the only South African side remaining in the Champions League after BidVest Wits were ousted on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Bloemfontein Celtic beat Platinum Stars 1-0 in an Absa Premiership match at the Dr Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein yesterday.
The victory takes Phunya Sele Sele to eighth place on the league standings, while Dikwena remain 16th on the table.