Bloemfontein Celtic ended their four-match winless streak by thrashing Free State Stars 3-0 in an Absa Premiership match at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
Former Baroka FC goal-getter Victor Letsoalo was the hero for the hosts as he scored a goal in each half, with these being the only goals that Phunya Sele Sele have scored in their last four matches.
Celtic were the more attacking side throughout the Free State derby and opened the scoring in the 30th minute.
Speedy Deon Hotto sent a ball into the box from the left side of the field, which Ndumiso Mabena flicked on for striker Letsoalo to fire into the roof of the net with his left foot past Stars’ Ivory Coast goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangare.
Stars attempted to get back into the game at the start of the second half with their Ghaniain striker Mohammed Anas heading just over the crossbar from a corner kick, but thereafter it was a green-and-white Celtic onslaught.
After a spell of constant pressure on the Stars goal, midfielder Lucky Baloyi fired a bullet-like effort into the back of the visitors’ net from 20 metres out to double the Celtic lead.
More agony was to come the way of Stars when Letsoalo scored his second goal of the afternoon from close-range. Celtic could well have doubled the scoreline had they taken all their chances.
At the other end of the park, there was precious little work for Celtic’s Cameroonian goalkeeper Patrick Tignyemb to do, with Stars struggling to make any form of progress against the rampant Celtic midfield.
Celtic, who followed their 1-0 loss in last weekend’s Telkom Knockout final against Bidvest Wits, with just 25 minutes of football in their midweek league encounter against AmaZulu in Durban due to a waterlogged pitch, now have 19 points from 12 games.