7 March 2011
After round 24 of the Absa Premiership Orlando Pirates are still on the top of the table, but only just as both Ajax Cape Town and Mamelodi Sundowns won their respective league matches and kept the pressure on the Buccaneers.
At the bottom of the table MP Black Aces woes continued as they remain rooted to the bottom of the table and are almost certain to be relegated after their 2-1 loss to the Urban Warriors, while Moroka Swallows and Maritzburg United dropped another two points.
Saturdays action in the PSL was a case of its not over till the fat lady sings as late goals were scored in three of the six matches played on the day.
For Kaizer Chiefs, though, they dropped another two points at the top of the table after a 1-1 draw with Free State Stars on Saturday night. The Amakhosi are now four points behind the league leaders having played a game more.
To be honest Chiefs, although playing the better football, were lucky to get a point against Free State as they went a goal behind in the 85th minute when Madoda Motha found the back of the net for Stars. But a late, late goal by Siphiwe Tshabalala four seconds from time saw him salvage a point for his side.
Two other sides who left it extremely late to salvage draws in their league matches were the two KZN sides, AmaZulu and Maritzburg United.
AmaZulu played to a 1-1 draw in their league match against BidVest Wits. Again the Students looked to have snatched victory in the 83rd minute with a Sifiso Myeni goal, but a 91st minute penalty goal by Lehlohonolo Majoro (His second late penalty in consecutive matches) saved his side their blushes as they shared the spoils.
For Maritzburg United they had a nightmare first half and saw themselves trailing by two goals at the half time break, but an impressive second half performance and another late goal from Musa Nyatama in the 92nd minute saw them also salvaging a point in their 2-2 draw with Vasco da Gama.
Following the match, Maritzburg coach, Ernst Middendorp, was visibly upset and offered his job to the management saying they could fire him if they want because he cant deal with the professionalism of his players.
One side who will be relatively happy with their performance on Saturday will be Mamelodi Sundowns who ran out 3-2 winners in an entertaining five goal thriller with Golden Arrows.
Katlego Mphela scored yet another brace to lead the Brazilians to victory (his fifth goal in three games) and up to second place on the league table, only two points behind Pirates. For Arrows they have now gone without a win in their last eight games and have only managed two draws.
The other two games on Saturday were dull goalless draws as Swallows dropped another two points in their relegation battle after failing to beat Santos, and Platinum Stars held SuperSport United to a 0-0 draw in Rustenburg.
On Sunday, Pirates were able to maintain their place at the top of the table after 1-1 draw with Bloemfontein Celtic. Ironically, the man to stop them from claiming all three points was Siphelele Mthembu (on loan from the Buccaneers) who scored Celtics equaliser.
The draw also sees both sides extend their unbeaten runs in the league, Celtic now 13 games unbeaten and Pirates 16.
The only other game on Sunday saw Ajax with a convincing 2-1 win over Aces and to second place in the league only a point adrift of the leaders. It was a good display by the Urban Warriors which was only marred by the late goal they conceded, an 86th minute goal scored by Gordon Gilbert.
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