DURBAN – SuperSport United will have plenty of work to do in their MTN 8 semi-final second leg clash against Bloemfontein Celtic next Saturday after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Veteran Celtic attacker Ndumiso Mabena opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he capitalised from a brilliant flick from Victor Letsoalo before calmly slotting the ball past Ronwen Williams.
SuperSport’s defensive fragilities were clear in the first half. There appeared to be too much space between the established defensive pairing of Clayton Daniels and Bongani Khumalo which was exploited by Phunya Sele Sele.
Though SuperSport had a few opportunities in the first-half, none of them really troubled the Celtic goal. Siwelele did pretty well to curb the threat of SuperSport United striker and reigning MTN 8 Player of the Tournament Bradley Grobler.
SuperSport coach Kaitano Tembo admitted that his side was poor in the first half: “It was not a good first half performance. They dominated possession. We changed a bit in the second half and had more opportunities. In the second half, our defenders were better. We have to take the positives from the game. It is played over two legs and we are still alive,” said the Zimbabwean.
Whilst Celtic boss John Maduka was satisfied by his team’s performance, he was aware that they could have won the game had they punished SuperSport more in the first-half for their poor defending.
“We started the game very well and created a lot of opportunities in the first-half. If we were sharp, we could have won the game in the first-half. If you miss opportunities, it can get back to you. The weather affected us when it started raining very heavily.We have an advantage but the game is still very much on,” said Maduka.
SuperSport appeared to infuse better wing-play and defensive composure into their game in the second half. Man of the Match Gamphani Lungu drew them level in the 49th minute.
After the ball was rolled to Lungu’s feet following an attacking passage of play from Matsantsantsa A Pitori, the Zambian produced a composed finish from the rebound after Jackson Mabokgwane saved his first effort.
Much to the disdain of SuperSport, Celtic keeper Mabokgwane appeared to be in pain throughout the game, which led to play stopping a few times. He was eventually replaced in the 66th minute by Celtic’s backup keeper Sipho Chaine.
Celtic will be the happier of the two sides. They take a vital away goal heading into the second leg which they will be playing at home. Though Tembo’s side appeared to come to life in the latter stages of the game, the weather did not work in their favour.
Torrential rainfall in the last 20-minutes of the game made it hard for either side to play fluently or for either keeper to see the ball clearly.
The tie is still up for grabs, but SuperSport will have their work cut out ahead of the second leg at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium next Saturday.
IOL Sport