PIRATES KEEP UP WITH PACESETTERS
ORLANDO Pirates remained in touch with the Premiership pacesetters after they defeated 10-man Bloemfontein Celtic 1-0 at Orlando Stadium yesterday.
This victory saw Pirates move into third place on 32 points, four adrift of log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have three games in hand. Second place is occupied by SuperSport United, who lost 1-0 to AmaZulu last night.
Celtic goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane was called into action in the opening 30 seconds when he cut off a goalmouth cross after Pirates defender Happy Jele sent striker Deon Hotto clear down the left flank.
There was more pressure from Pirates in the eighth minute when they secured the first of three firsthalf corners.
However, Celtic's defence stood firm and offered splendid support to Mabokgwane, who pulled a great save to deny Siphesihle Ndlovu on the stroke of half-time.
Two minutes into added first-half time, Celtic striker Ndumiso Mabena was shown a red card after a vicious studs-up tackle on Linda Mntambo.
After a raft of near misses in the second half, the game was crying out for a goal and Pirates midfielder Fortune Makaringe obliged with a moment of brilliance in the 61st minute.
After slipping several tackles he unleashed a low drive from well outside the penalty area to net the only goal of the game.
In Durban, AmaZulu extended
their unbeaten run in the league to eight games following a well-earned win over title-chasing SuperSport at Jonsson Kings Park Stadium.
Benni McCarthy’s side dominated the first-half, rarely giving Matsatsantsa possession. SuperSport top scorer Bradley Grobler did not see much of the ball in the first-half and when he did, he hardly looked threatening to Usuthu’s defence.
The SuperSport No 9 also did not receive much supply from his teammates as they failed to create sustained attacking passages of play.
AmaZulu eventually took the lead in the 24th minute following some good work down the left from Augustine Mulenga, who recorded his sixth assist of the season. The
Zambian produced a brilliant moment, running rings around defender Luke Fleurs before playing in a ball to Siphelele Mthembu, who tapped the ball in for the goal.
SuperSport came to life in the second half and there were more intense midfield battles. However, the Usuthu defence did well to contain the pressure, and their goalkeeper Veli Mothwa did not have to make any difficult saves.
Mthembu had an opportunity to notch up his brace and seal the game for his side in the 74th minute as his team unlocked the SuperSport defence and he had only Ronwen Williams to beat but his shot went wide.
AmaZulu will now be confident that they can beat any side in the league. Their next game will be against Chippa United at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on Wednesday.
In another league match yesterday, Swallows FC suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit.
Swallow's Ruzaigh Gamildien scored a 50th-minute penalty while Galaxy's goals were scored in the final 10 minutes of the match by John Mbatha and Bevan Fransman.
In Pietermaritzburg, Maritzburg United defeated Black Leopards 1-0 at the Harry Gwala Stadium.
Thabiso Kutumela scored the winner from the penalty spot, three minutes into injury-time.