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Top-of-the-table occupants Bidvest Wits and Mamelodi Sundowns opened themselves up to attack by the chasing pack with their share of the spoils yesterday.
The 1-1 draw at Bidvest Stadium brought Orlando Pirates back within touching distance of the pacesetters after coach Milutin Sredojevic’s men hammered AmaZulu 4-1 in Soweto last night.
But it took an incredible reaction from Bucs to come back from a goal down early in the game at Orlando Stadium as they swapped places with Sundowns behind Wits on the summit of the table.
Usuthu caused a scare when Jabulani Ncubeni sent the Ghosts into panic mode after the pacey attacker netted 17 minutes into the game following a counter-attack.
Pirates came into the game last night reeling from a 1-0 loss to SuperSport United midweek, and it was clear the Buccaneers were not ready for another setback.
Usuthu were rattled within minutes of taking the lead when Kudakwashe Mahachi led the comeback for Pirates as Luvuyo Memela, Justin Shonga and Ben Motshwari also registered their names on the scoresheet.
To their credit, AmaZulu didn’t give up, but the damage was done as Bucs ended their six-match winless run in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane and his Wits counterpart Gavin Hunt downplayed the dent their dropping of points could do to their title ambitions.
While Hunt insisted that the Clever Boys were not looking behind them, Mosimane warned that it was still a long way to go in the race for the Absa Premiership crown.
“We are very disappointed with the point, [but] it’s all to play for. We’ll pick up the pieces,” said Hunt.
Former Wits winger Phakamani Mahlambi gave Sundowns a sixth-minute lead, but Gift Motupa pulled one back for the hosts just before the half-hour mark.
Motupa would have left with a brace had he not planted his headed effort against the upright earlier on.
Even worse, Wits couldn’t take full advantage of Sundowns, who played for almost an hour with a man short after defender Wayne Arendse was red-carded before the half-time break.
Arendse was dismissed by referee Victor Hlungwani for a professional foul on Wits striker Fagrie Lakay.
Mosimane said: “I think you saw the way we played before the red card – we were interested – but, under the circumstances, 10 against 11, I’ll take a point.”
While Sredojevic welcomed a victory at last, Mosimane – who faces Cape Town City on Wednesday – maintained that his side failing to assume leadership after two attempts was a not a big deal.
“It’s going to be hard. The game against City is going to be the same as this one [against Wits],” said Mosimane.
He continued: “We’ve got to keep calm. It’s a long way to go. I don’t think it’s a two-man race.
City and Chiefs are popping up. We can probably cancel each other out along the way.”
Other results yesterday:
SuperSport United 1-2 Baroka FC
Polokwane City 1-1 Kaizer Chiefs
Cape Town City 3-2 Maritzburg United
