Cape Town City captain Lebogang Manyama was proud of his team for “soldiering on” to earn a 1-1 draw against Highlands Park in Tembisa on Tuesday night.
The top-flight newcomers have had a hectic playing schedule during September, with six games in 18 days, including four outside Cape Town.
They ended a four-match winless streak by beating Ajax Cape Town in their first ever derby last Friday night, but it was always going to be difficult to back it up at Makhulong Stadium – dubbed the “slaughterhouse” as visiting teams seldom win there due to City’s strenuous programme.
But they actually went into the lead in the 69th minute when Manyama himself fired in a terrific strike from outside the box to beat an outstretched Highlands keeper Tapuwa Kapini for a 1-0 advantage.
Manyama was set up by Australian Matty Sim, who gave an inside pass from the left-hand side, with the skipper looking up and letting rip to direct the ball into the far corner.
The Cape side lost concentration just three minutes later, though, when a long ball from Highlands found unmarked sharp-shooter Collins Mbesuma inside the penalty area.
The veteran front-man wasted little time as he swung his left foot to beat City goalkeeper Shu-aib Walters, who had no chance to stop the goal, but had made a number of crucial saves throughout the 90 minutes in a match sometimes played in heavy rain and even lightning at stages.
But the visitors did well to hold on for the point, and Manyama – who was also chosen as the Man of the Match for an industrious performance – was satisfied with the final outcome.
“It’s never easy playing away, and for the past two weeks, it’s been tough. But we had to soldier on and unfortunately, we conceded from a mistake that we spoke about,” Manyama told SuperSport TV in a post-match interview.
“But ja, it’s a learning curve and we have to learn from these things. At least we came here and took a point, we didn’t lose. We can only learn from our mistakes and keep soldiering on.”
Manyama’s wonder goal from about 20 yards out was the highlight, though, and he said his teammates had urged him to have a go from long-range. “The guys have been telling me to shoot, shoot, shoot – I shoot like that at training. But I’m the kind of player who wants to pass all the time, create, create,” he said.
“So today I thought ‘You know what, why not (take a shot)?’ and it went in. I think I have to keep on shooting and I will score goals like that.”
Ironically, after such a busy few weeks, City – who moved up to third position on the Premiership log with eight points after five games, behind leaders Golden Arrows (nine) and Orlando Pirates (eight) – will only be in action again on October 15 when they host Baroka FC at Cape Town Stadium (8.15pm kickoff).
In other results on Tuesday night, a stoppage-time equaliser from Thobani Kunene handed Platinum Stars a point in a 1-1 draw against Pirates at Orlando Stadium, whose second-half goal came from Thabiso Kutumela.
At the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg, Sipho Jembula’s 65th-minute goal gave Polokwane City a vital 1-0 win over Maritzburg United.
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