CAPE TOWN – Cape Town City's winless league run was extended to four matches after Golden Arrows struck in the 87th minute to secure a 1-1 draw at the Cape Town Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In a tightly-fought encounter, Kermit Erasmus' 52nd minute goal had looked to have earned City a much-needed win, but it wasn't to be for Benni McCarthy's team as Knox Mutizwa fired in a late penalty.
The first half saw both sides unable to create much in the way of clearcut chances, although with that said, there were certainly some openings.
The first opportunity of the game fell to Arrows in the ninth minute, when Nduduzo Sibiya's shot from a tight angle was kept out by the legs of City keeper Peter Leeuwenburgh, with the home defence doing well to throw bodies on the line in the resultant goalmouth scramble.
City had to wait until the 29th minute for their first sniff at goal, which saw Riyaad Norodien's swerving freekick parried to safety by Arrows keeper Edmore Sibanda.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/CapeTownCityFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CapeTownCityFC1-1 @goldenarrowsfc1 #AbsaPrem #DurbanHasMore #BuildingTheBrand pic.twitter.com/cPdwM2b1CA
— Lamontville Golden Arrows FC (@goldenarrowsfc1)
The hosts were to increase their efforts in attack and it took an excellent reflex save from Sibanda to prevent Taariq Fielies from firing in a volley.
Just before the break, McCarthy was forced into a change after what looked like a nasty ankle injury to Abbubaker Mobara, with Mpho Makola taking his place.
After Leeuwenburgh had saved an early second half shot from Lerato Lamola, the Citizens were to take the lead when Erasmus snuck in at the near post to loop a header into the net, following Norodien's cross.
A couple of minutes later the roles were reversed as Erasmus played in Norodien, but his attempted chip went over the crossbar, before Erasmus hit a shot straight at Sibanda.
But as the game moved past the hour mark, Abafana bes'Thende began to show more of a threat going forward and they should have equalised when Devine Lunga got to the byline and set up Ntsako Makhubela, but he ballooned his shot well over the bar from just 12-yards out.
The Cape side were not finding themselves overwhelmed by Arrows, but when Danny Venter sprinted down the left flank on a counter attack before cutting into the box and then being upended by Ebrahim Seedat, the visitors were awarded a penalty by referee Victor Gomes.
Mutizwa sent Leeuwenburgh the wrong way to score comfortably, and although the Citizens pushed hard for a late winner, the visiting defence held as Steve Komphela and his men secured a point on the road.