Wits beat Stars to stretch lead at top
Bidvest Wits started 2019 in the same way they ended 2018 – with a win.
This one was against bogey side Free State Stars and it was a significant one from a log perspective.
They bounced back from an early goal to win 2-1 at Goble Park in Bethlehem.
Wits were shocked into action in the first minute of the game when Harris Tchilimbou nodded in Sifiso Mbhele’s cross from the right flank.
Wits were ball-watching when Free State Stars cut a swathe through the middle before Mbhele’s cross was met by a header that Darren Keet knew nothing about.
Yusuf Jappie was a menace down the right flank and in the seventh minute he drew a great save from Keet.
In the 25th minute, veteran Paulus Masehe and Jappie forced a double save from Keet, who worked hard to earn his January salary and whatever Christmas bonus he accrued through his goalkeeping performance.
Wits are too good a side not to equalise against a generally stuttering Free State Stars side and their due reward came in the 31st minute through Terrence Dzvukamanja, who glided in Deon Hotto’s delightfully floated free-kick from the righthand side.
Stars had chances in the 33rd and 36th minutes through Sthembiso Dlamini and Jappie.
Wits, who were to find the crucial second goal 28 minutes into the second stanza, announced their intentions early through Buhle Mkhwanazi and Hotto.
Stars’ Ali Sangare, whose first half was less busy than Keet’s, was equal to the task in the 48th and 50th minutes to keep his team in the game.
Makhehleni Makhaula, who also did not have the best of midfield outings, saw his 53rd-minute shot sail harmlessly wide of Keet’s goal.
The game’s festive cheer predictably fizzled into a midfield scrap that played directly into Wits’ hands.
They were tactically smarter and drew Stars into the kind of ugly game that only Wits know how to master.
Their second goal was a thing of beauty with Hotto again floating in a cross but this time Elias Pelembe, who was a constant roving menace, was on hand to head the ball past a despairing Sangare. That was the game’s high point and secured Wits’ six-pointer.