Plays of the week

Star

Bloemfontein Celtic have made a brilliant start to the Absa Premiership season under Steve Komphela, and they picked up perhaps their best result so far on Saturday, when they beat Bidvest Wits 2-1 on their own patch. Leaders Wits came unstuck despite taking a second-half lead. Tshegofatso Mabasa made all the difference, the 22-year-old striker coming off the bench to win a penalty that resulted in a red card for Robyn Johannes, which Mabasa then coolly converted. The young attacker then raced forward and beat Darren Keet to complete a brilliant comeback.

Flop

Daniel Bennett gave a woeful display of refereeing in Saturday’s Absa Premiership showdown between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, failing to punish the Brazilians for a series of dreadful challenges on Xola Mlambo. Hlompho Kekana’s stamp on Mlambo’s ankle should have earned him red card, while Gaston Sirino should have also gone after his studs raked the back of Mlambo’s legs. Amazingly, Bennett booked Mlambo in the aftermath of that incident, and then, equally absurdly, failed to book Sirino minutes later when he stamped on Mlambo’s knee. When Sirino was finally shown a yellow card with 10 minutes left, it was too little, too late.

Quote

“What is this? Do I park at Orlando Pirates’ entrance? We still gave them the respect because we walked from outside. When you come to my house you can’t park anywhere you want, I was unhappy. I humbled myself and walked inside. Let them enjoy the parking inside my house, at my door. Can you go to Old Trafford and park anywhere? Are you serious? It is unacceptable.” – Pitso Mosimane, probably the most quotable coach in South Africa, goes on a rant about Orlando Pirates parking their bus in Sundowns’ spot ahead of the meeting between the two sides at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.