Maritzburg United coach Roger de Sa will be a relieved man after leading his charges to their first league win of 2017 as his team beat Free State Stars 2-1 in an Absa Premiership match at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The victory was the hosts’ first in four outings under the guidance of De Sa, with a draw against Polokwane City having been the only point collected in 2017 from three outings, prior to the match against Stars.
It was Stars’ Ghanaian striker Mohammed Anas, who opened the scoring in the 20th minute, with his right-footed finish earning his fourth goal of the league season.
Maritzburg pressed forward throughout the match, with midfielder Deolin Mekoa and Kurt Lentjies creating some nervous moments for the Stars defence in front of their Republic of Congo goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi.
The home side’s persistence paid off in the 64th minute when some slick build-up work by Mekoa allowed Zimbabwean striker Evans Rusike to score the equaliser, and with Maritzburg growing in confidence, they took the lead in the 79th minute, with Rusike being the provider for Lebohang Maboe to finish with his right foot.
Mafoumbi was certainly the busier of the two goalkeepers, with his 39th-minute diving save from Bandile Shandu, having allowed the visitors to go into the halftime break with a 1-0 advantage.
The home team trio of Kwanda Mngonyama, second-half substitute striker Devon Saal and Mekoa got themselves into the referee’s notebook for yellow-card offences.
Maritzburg now have 21 points from 19 matches and will spend the week preparing for Saturday’s away KwaZulu-Natal league derby against Golden Arrows, while Stars, on 18 points from 19 games, will host relegation-haunted Highlands Park on Sunday.