League battle so tight
Back to the top 8 is the goal for Da Sa’s Maritzburg
AFTER the drama of knockout action it’s back to the bread and butter basics of league duty, spiced with a dash of continental football, before the Fifa international week intervenes next week.
The Nedbank Cup shifted the focus briefly away from the Absa Premiership and Maritzburg United’s slide down that competition’s table.
The Team of Choice fell out of the top eight, overtaken by Chippa United and Platinum Stars. Tonight they could drop further when the top flight resumes with Ajax Cape Town hosting Free State Stars in the Mother City.
One win, three losses and a draw in the league resulted in Maritzburg’s slide to 10th position. If the Urban Warriors win tonight then Maritzburg will drop to 11th, before tomorrow’s visit to Highlands Park who are second-bottom and fighting for survival.
The exit from the Cup further dented Maritzburg’s ambitions for the campaign. They had targeted a cup final appearance and a top eight league placing.
After they were bombed 3-1 by Golden Arrows in the Cup last weekend, Maritzburg are left with 10 matches to achieve their league target.
“With 10 games to play we will go for every match as if it’s a cup final,” said Maritzburg coach Roger de Sa who was at pains to pin-point exactly where they fell apart in the Cup loss.
“This club has got some good defenders, solid guys at the back, so we should do better. We were slow and lost balls in areas we don’t usually do, and there was no consistency throughout the game,” he added.
Fortunately he will have Kenyan international central defender Brian Onyango back for tomorrow’s trip.
While he said “Brian makes a difference to the back four” De Sa added that defence wasn’t entirely a problem and that a proper video analysis was needed to figure out where they broke down.
Belgian striker Andrea Fileccia is another in the mix, after he made a cameo appearance in the Cup following a lengthy injury absence. If these reinforcements help Maritzburg overcome Highlands, the Midlands men will return to the top eight.
There’s greater chance of changes at the summit tonight. Cape Town City can retake the outright lead if they bank at least a point from their trip to Bloemfontein Celtic. If they fail, Kaizer Chiefs can join City and Bidvest Wits on 38 points with a victory over Baroka in the late night duel.
It’s a truncated league programme because four teams are preoccupied with CAF assignments. African champions Mamelodi Sundowns defend a 2-1 lead in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against KCCA in Uganda this afternoon.
In the same competition Bidvest Wits tomorrow host Egyptian giants Al Ahly, attempting to overcome last weekend’s 1-0 away defeat.
This afternoon Platinum Stars will bank on home advantage to reverse last weekend’s 1-0 Confederation Cup preliminary round first leg loss at Vipers in Uganda. Supersport United are the other side in the Confed Cup. They welcome Al Ahly Shendi to Pretoria following last weekend’s 3-2 stumble in Sudan.
Platinum and Supersport enjoyed decent preparation against KZN opposition in the Nedbank Cup mid-week. Platinum outshone AmaZulu 3-2 and Supersport edged Royal Eagles 2-1.
Those narrow cup defeats, with weakened teams, would have boosted the confidence of the First Division sides, who also resume league duty this weekend.
Eagles this afternoon host FC Cape Town at the Harry Gwala Stadium, and tomorrow AmaZulu entertain Witbank Spurs in KwaMashu. Log leaders Thanda Royal Zulu are in Cape Town to face Milano United today.