Bafana let win slip at the dearth
! Burkina Faso (0) 1 South Africa (0) 1 SHAKES Mashaba put his hands on his hips and wondered how on earth Bafana Bafana let a victory slip out of their hands so easily here last night.
Bafana were on their way to a fantastic victory in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso after midfielder Dean Furman scored a goal 10 minutes from time to leave the Burkinabe supporters shell- shocked.
But substitute Banou Diawara drew the hosts level with a close-range finish in stoppage time.
Anyone would be happy to collect a point away from home, but Bafana should not feel this way because they really should have won this game. More importantly, they really should have cleared their lines before Burkina Faso put the ball in the back of the net to send the capacity crowd into raptures.
Furman, a man who was always willing to take pictures with the locals whenever they asked, silenced the crowd with a goal but was left red-faced at the final whistle after Bafana failed to hold on for what would have been a fantastic victory.
They made a good start to the game last night, sending out an early message with a long-range shot from Mpho Makola which went wide of goal in the first five minutes.
Makola combined well with the likes of Furman, Keagan Dolly and Hlompho Kekana, who had his header in the 16th minute saved by the Burkinabe goalkeeper Koffi Herve.
Not to be outdone by the visitors on their turf, the Stallions found some rhythm and started getting forward using the pace and skill of Prejuce Nakoulma, Bertrand Traore and Jonathan Pitroipa.
The home side’s fans thought their team would go ahead when they were awarded a penalty after Abdou Razak Traore made a rampaging run into the box before his shot connected with Mulomowandau Mathoho s hand in the 10th minute.
One of Burkina Faso’s heroes, Pitroipa, stepped up to take the shot but had his effort saved by goalie Itumeleng Khune. He made three more good saves in the first half to keep the visitors in the game.
Mashaba started with Eleazar Rodgers as the target man upfront, ahead of Thamsanqa Gabuza who has not been getting game time at Orlando Pirates.
Alain Traore then missed a penalty in the 88th minute, but Diawara rescued the day with a last-gasp goal. It was a good performance from Bafana and Safa should not panic.
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