Absa Premiership
Result: Polokwane City 3-1 SuperSport United
Date: 21 September 2019
Venue: Old Peter Mokaba Stadium
Polokwane City have overtaken Kaizer Chiefs at the top of the Absa Premiership table with a 3-1 victory over ten-man SuperSport United on Saturday afternoon.
After overcoming Mamelodi Sundowns to reach the MTN8 final, SuperSport coach Kaitano Tembo opted to drop Bradley Grobler and Thamsanqa Gabuza to the bench as Evans Rusike and Kudakwashe Mahachi were handed starts. It was evenly contested affair early on, although both sides found it tough to carve out clear-cut openings as both goalkeepers enjoyed a quiet opening quarter. Rise and Shine eventually broke the deadlock on 30-minute mark as Nicholas Motloung caught the SuperSport defence napping to nod home from Jabulani Maluleke's corner. The visitors were dealt a blow five minutes later when Sipho Mbule picked up a knock and was replaced by Jamie Webber, who netted in the win over Sundowns earlier this week. Tembo had another issue to deal with after SuperSport were reduced to 10 men when defender Onismor Bhasera was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge. Surprisingly, SuperSport enjoyed a lot of the possession in the early stages of the second half but they were unable to carve out an opening, even with the introduction of Gabuza at the break. Rise and Shine did have a chance to double their lead with 20 minutes remaining when Puleng Tlolane broke through on goal, but SuperSport shot-stopper Ronwen Williams produced a fine save to deny the forward. Tlolane made up for the miss seven minutes as he cut onto his right and curled one into the top corner from around 25-yards out to seal three points. Bradley Grobler pulled a goal back for SuperSport from the penalty spot, but Salulani Phiri restored Polokwane's two-goal cushion with a neat finish in second-half stoppage time. The victory sees Polokwane move top, three points ahead of Chiefs while find themselves in sixth spot.Here's how they lined up:
Polokwane: 40. Mwenya, 2. Mvelase, 32. Buthelezi, 22. Mbonani, 27. Motloung, 14. Manaka, 11. Hlubi, 20. Phiri, 3. Anas, 8. J. Maluleke, 10. Tlolane.
Subs: 50. Phali, 24. Hlongwane, 15. Musona , 33. Nku, 6. Chauke, 28. Nthatheni.SuperSport: 30. Williams, 18. Nhlapo, 4. Daniels, 3. Khumalo, 14. Bhasera, 8. Furman, 28. Mokoena, 24. Mbule, 16. Modiba, 19. Rusike, 11. Mahachi
Subs :33 Pule, 25. Fleurs, 12. Webber, 13. Gabuza, 11. Qalinge, 7. Grobler, 17. Lungu.
