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Steve Komphela broke the hearts of his former club Bloemfontein Celtic when he guided his new side Golden Arrows into the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup yesterday.
The sparsely attended game at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein did not bring much joy to the crowd until a flurry of late goals added some excitement to the encounter.
Substitute Knox Mutizwa won the day for Arrows when he opened the account for the visitors after more than an hour in a stalemate.
Abafana Bes’thende could have scored midway into the opening half, but Sibusiso Sibeko shot the ball straight into Peter Tignyemb’s hands in the Celtic goal.
The home side were dealt a serious blow when they lost industrious midfielder Tebogo Potsane to injury shortly after the half-time break.
His place was taken by Menzi Masuku, but the change did not necessarily boost the home side, including the introduction of Ndumiso Mabena, who also came on in the second half.
In contrast, it was Komphela who pulled a masterstroke through a substitution when he called Mutizwa into the fray for Sibeko.
The Zimbabwean striker has a knack for scoring brilliant goals and he brought his artistry to the fore again yesterday.
First, he calmly converted a cross by Lerato Lamola in the 69th minute after a brilliant build-up by Arrows.
However, Celtic were back in thanks to Arrows’ goalkeeper Maximilian Mbaeva fumbling a long-range shot by Mabena.
Bongani Sam was on hand to easily scamble the ball home with 10 minutes remaining before the final whistle.
The goal injected much-needed energy to the hosts, but Victor Letsoalo’s misdirected attempt gave Arrows a huge sigh of relief.
A foul just outside the box proved fatal for Phunya Sele Sele as Mutizwa once again displayed his accuracy from a dead ball with a well-taken shot from the resultant free kick in injury time.
The goal was a carbon copy of Mutizwa’s late-game strike that earned Arrows a point in their league meeting at the same venue in January.
With their hard-earned victory, Arrows join NFD side TS Galaxy in the Ke Yona semifinals. – City Press correspondent
