CAPE TOWN – There appears to be no respite for Ajax Cape Town after their woes continued with a 1-0 defeat to Golden Arrows at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban on Sunday afternoon.
A pall of gloom continues to hover over the Cape side as they remain mired second-from-bottom on the PSL standings, with just 21 points from 22 games. With eight games to go to the end of the season, and with only Platinum Stars (17 points) below them, they are cutting it rather close at the moment. In short, if Ajax don’t pick up points - and quickly too - the ignominy of either relegation or a promotion play-off could be a real possibility.
Ajax aren’t playing too badly, though. They just aren’t making their possession and scoring opportunities count. Even against Arrows on Sunday, they were their own worst enemies in defeat.
A shocking error from goalkeeper Brandon Petersen allowed Arrows in for the winning goal from the penalty spot - and, then, in the second half, when Ajax were the dominant team, they were unable to capitalise as they lacked the creativity to find a way through the opposition’s defence.
It was a case of mixed fortunes for Petersen, going from the sublime to the ridiculous. He pulled off a magnificent save to deny Arrows striker Lerato Lamola from scoring, but, a few minutes later, he misjudged a regulation cross from Limbikani Mzava.
It was extremely windy at the ground, so perhaps the swirl played a hand in Petersen’s error, but, really, at this level, he should be taking that into consideration. When the ball rolled loose from the keeper’s error, Lamola was first to react, but he was fouled by Ajax skipper Mosa Lebusa, for which the penalty was awarded. Mzava powered the ball into the net, and that was it for Ajax.
Njabulo Ngidi reports Orlando Pirates send out a lout statement with a 4-2 win over Chippa yesterday as they dramatically cut Mamelodi Sundowns’ lead at the summit to just four points and set up a potentially explosive Soweto Derby on Saturday against arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs who are also part of the chasing pack.
The Buccaneers were behind early in the match after a brilliant goal from Mxolisi Macuphu who scored from a tight angle.
Pirates responded quickly through the boot of Bernard Morrison who scored his third goal in two matches.
Katlego Mashego, a former Pirates striker, looked to have derailed the Buccaneers’ championship chase with a goal from his first touch of the match but Thembinkosi Lorch, a former Chippa star, rescued the Buccaneers to make it 3-2.
Justin Shonga sealed the deal with a thunderbolt in an awkward angle. While that thunderbolt showed his power, the Zambian’s first goal which had made the score 2-2 showed his agility by controlling and scoring in a congested box.