Johannesburg – SuperSport United coach Cavin Johnson said he was satisfied with just a point, considering Bloemfontein Celtic came hard at the Pretoria side in the second stanza.
“We came with one point and we go home with one point,” Johnson said after United squandered a 1-0 first half lead to draw 1-1
against a determined Celtic outfit.
“We should have pushed better after we got the first goal ... I thought they were vulnerable but then in the second half they could have won the game.
“We are happy with it but I thought we should have wrapped it up in the first half.”
Johnson's decision to substitute the outstanding Bennett Chenene for Edwin Gyimah took the edge off the SuperSport attack and allowed Celtic to push forward.
“It looked like Bennie was running out of steam a little bit,” said Johnson.
“We brought on Eddy to sort of close the midfield and we wanted Thato Mokeke to go forward as a false winger. It did work as he had a strike at goal and, in another instance, he opted for a pass when he could have taken a shot.”
Celtic coach Ernst Middendorp said he was happy with his team's performance, particularly in the second period.
“You know I am not easily satisfied but what I saw from my team in the second half was impressive,” Middendorp said.
“We had a lot of problems in the first half, especially in the first 25 minutes where we didn't come close to the opponents.
“You must know you can't eliminate Mame Niang completely but in the end I think we sorted it out. Having had only three and half days to recover while the opponents played only last weekend, I think our team was impressive especially coming from a goal down.”
Despite Johnson expressing satisfaction with a point, the draw would have come as a blow for Matsatsantsa who would have moved into fourth place on the log had they seen out a victory. – Sapa