Matchday 19 - Report
Supersport Utd 1 - Thanda Royal Zulu 3
PRETORIA, February 07 (Absa Premier League) – Thanda Royal Zulu claimed a massive victory in their bid to stave off Absa Premier League relegation with goals from Felix Obada, Sibusiso Hadebe and debutant Clifford Mulenga handing them a 3-1 victory at Supersport United.
Roger Palmgren’s team came into the game on the back of four straight defeats in 2009 and needed a big result in order to lift morale.
And they turned in a dominating display at the Super Stadium and even the late dismissal of Tonic Chabalala for decent and a consolation goal from Bongani Khumalo failed to dampen the importance of the result.
They dominated from the start and could have take the lead on a few occasions with Bongani Mbhele first to come close when he intercepted a pass on the edge of the penalty area after 14 minutes only to put his shot inches over.
Five minutes later Hadebe’s cross from the left came nicely to Obada, but the Nigerian was let down by a poor first touch.
Phil Evans was next to come close when his free-kick from just outside the penalty area on the right flew through the wall, only to be excellently saved by a sprawling Denis Onyango.
And it wasn’t much longer before the opener arrived courtesy of quick break from Nkosinathi Nhleko 10 minutes before the break, when he beat the off-side trap on the right and found Obada unmarked in the box to guide the ball home from close range.
Minutes before half-time, Mandlenkosi Tsengwa was forced to make his first save of the game when he acrobatically tipped Shane Poggenpoel’s shot from the edge of the area over the bar.
Gavin Hunt introduced Lerato Chabangu and Brent Carelse at the start of the second half to try and shift the momentum
But it was Thanda who continued to create the better openings and should have scored when Nhleko missed a glaring chance after being completely unmarked in the six-yard area, nodding Bongani Mbhele’s left wing cross straight into the arms of Onyango.
Seconds later, the two new introductions combined at the other end with Chabangu’s whipped in free-kick from the left, narrowly glanced wide by Carelse.
But the lead was doubled in the 70th minute when Hadebe picked up a pass from July Mahlangu on the right, cut inside on his left foot and unleashed a hopeful shot that took a wicked deflection off Morgan Gould and left the Supersport goalkeeper wrong-footed.
Chabangu tried his best to bring the hosts back into the game when his clever turn and shot had the power, but not the direction as Tsengwa comfortably held on.
And the former Sundowns man played a key role in halving the deficit when another dangerously floated free-kick, this time from the right, picked out Glen Salmon, whose header came back off the crossbar and into the path of a lurking Khumalo to slam home.
There was a subsequent scuffle in the aftermath with Chabalala losing his cool in a tussle with a few United players leaving referee Jerome Damon no choice but to dismiss the defender.
With the home side struggling to carve out any real openings in final stages, substitute Mulenga showed good strength as he outmuscled two defenders before slamming a powerful left-footed shot from outside the box into the left corner to seal all the points.