Staff Reporter.
Cape Town City and Maritzburg United played out a goalless stalemate in their DStv Premiership match at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday evening.
City started the stronger of the two teams and spurned two good chances in the opening quarter hour: first Fagrie Lakay had a free header from a corner kick but put his effort off target, before Thabo Nodada did great work to tee up Aubrey Ngoma for a shot from the edge of the box, with the ball flashing just wide of goalkeeper Marcel Engelhardt’s left-hand post.
United started to find their attacking rhythm as the game goes on, with runners from midfield such as Daylon Claasen and Phumlani Ntshangase more than willing to get forward in support of Judas Moseamedi and Thabiso Kutumela.
The halftime interval arrived with the teams locked at 0-0 – little surprise given the fierce midfield battle which kept the action to a minimum at either end of the field.
Maritzburg opted for a change in attack at the start of the second half, with Moseamedi making way for Thobeka Zondi.
The battle of attrition continued through the second half, but the Team of Choice were dealt a major blow on 68 minutes when defender Fares Hachi picked up his second yellow card for a late challenge on Thabo Nodada. His dismissal left the away side with 10 men for the remaining quarter of the game.
With a numerical advantage, the Cape team dominated possession and territory up the final whistle but found Maritzburg’s defence equally resilient to their own – though a lack of precision and composure in the final third certainly did not help City’s hopes of snatching all three points.
The result sees the Citizens remain in seventh place, and they need one win from their last two matches to guarantee a top-eight finish.
As for the Team of Choice, they move up to 12th place – leapfrogging Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila on goal difference – but find themselves just four points clear of the relegation playoff zone.
Meanwhile Golden Arrows showed their class with an emphatic 3-0 win over TS Galaxy in a DStv Premiership clash at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Goals from Michael Gumede, Pule Mmodi and Ntsako Makhubela saw Aabafa Bes’thende strengthen their grip on third place on the log, moving three points clear of nearest chasers Orlando Pirates (who have two games in hand).
It was also the Durban club’s biggest win in the league since defeating AmaZulu 4-1 in September 2017.
As for the Rockets, their top-eight hopes remain alive and well (they remain ninth, one point behind eighth-placed Baroka FC and with a game in hand over the Limpopo side), but a sixth defeat from their last eight league outings will be major cause for concern.