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Golden Arrows moved into the top eight of the Absa Premiership table with a fortuitous 1-0 win over SuperSport United at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban yesterday.
The result saw Matsatsantsa a Pitori’s already slim hopes of challenging for the title all but vanish as they now sit 12 points behind Kaizer Chiefs, having played two games more than the pacesetters.
Arrows can now target a top-half finish and a place in next season’s MTN8 competition if they maintain their good form.
A frenetic start to the match saw both sides blow great chances to take the lead within the opening 10 minutes.
Bradley Grobler laid the ball up for Ghampani Lungu, but the Zambian blasted his shot disappointingly over the bar moments before Knox Mutizwa missed at the other end.
The scorching heat meant a water break was needed midway through each half, and SuperSport were almost caught napping after the first stoppage.
Lerato Lamola split their defence in half with a beautiful through-ball for Mutizwa, who again blew his chance by hooking a weak shot wide.
Siyabonga Nhlapo thought he had opened the scoring when he saw his 40th-minute strike heading towards the back of the net, but it was blocked and headed off the line.
Despite the first-half ending goalless, it was a breathtaking encounter.
Sifiso Mlungwana blocked a Grobler shot seconds after the restart. The breakthrough came in heartbreaking fashion for SuperSport in the 56th minute, when a Mutizwa shot hit the crossbar and bounced off Luke Fleurs and into the net for an own goal.
After that, Golden Arrows effectively parked the bus to protect their advantage and, no matter how hard SuperSport tried, they could not break down the Durban-based side.
Their increasing frustration resulted in a decidedly more physical second half, with the referee having to flash the yellow card seven times.
There were 10 cautions and 30 fouls overall in what turned out to be quite a rough game.
SuperSport came within centimetres of pulling level right at the death, but were denied by Mlungwana’s sharp save as the home side clung on for a vital win. – Sports24
