JOHANNESBURG – Platinum Stars' chances of fighting to finish in the top two in their remaining fixtures came to a bitter end after the played to a 1-1 draw against CS Sfaxien.
Even if Stars manage to win both of their remaining fixtures, and Sfaxien who are second in Group B, fail to win any of their remaining games, they will not go through.
In the first period, Stars enjoyed more ball possession moving forward, while Sfaxien opted to play defensively deep as they worked tirelessly in search of an early goal. Sfaxien created a decent amount of scoring chances, however, their finishing which let them down.
Bongi Ntuli, Robert Ng’ambi and Abia Nale struggled massively to brake lose of their markers who remained resolute at the back.
Stars' clear chance at goal came in the 23rd minute when Mabena dribbled past his marker to deliver a superb cross to Nale, who was rushing into the box.
The opposition ‘keeper was quick to react and dived for the ball to deny Nale the goal.
In the second half, Stars kept adding numbers forward and their hard work was rewarded when Ntuli converted a superb cross from Sphiwe Mnguni. The stocky centre-forward slipped past his markers inside the area to give his side the needed lead.
But it was not to be for the Rustenburg outfit as Hanachi’s equalizer just 14 minutes before full time, kept them at the bottom of the table with two group matches to go.