NELSPRUIT – SuperSport United were held to a 0-0 draw by Golden Arrows in their Premiership match at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Tuesday night.
The result is a third successive draw for Matsatsantsa, while Abafana Bes’thende have now registered five stalemates in their last seven league outings.
SuperSport were the more dangerous team in the opening phase of the match, with their first genuine chance going the way of Thamsanqa Gabuza – the striker sent a low effort on target in the ninth minute, but goalkeeper Edmore Sibanda tipped it away for a corner kick.
United had further efforts through the likes of Jamie Webber and Evans Rusike, while Arrows grew into the game and began to test the hosts’ defence. Seth Parusnath was particularly influential in finding space between the lines and he tested goalkeeper Ronwen Williams with a couple of efforts.
Yet Matsatsantsa remained the likelier scorers and Arrows again needed another fine save from Sibanda, who turned away a goal-bound shot from Webber in the 32nd minute. Despite the home side pressing hard for an opener, the score remained 0-0 to the halftime interval.
Arrows were forced into a change at the start of the second half, replacing the injured Ntsako Makhubela with veteran wide-man Danny Venter, but the switch did little to hold back United’s dominance.
The Tshwane team continued to boss the game and pin back their opposition, though they were not able to call Sibanda in action quite so regularly. Arrows’ defence was organised and disciplined, with centre-backs Nkosinathi Sibisi and Trevor Mathiane doing a great job to screen their box.
SuperSport looked to shuffle their pack in attack, with the introductions of Teboho Mokoena and Kuda Mahachi offering a different approach. The former almost broke the deadlock on 80 minutes, sending a shot narrowly over the crossbar.
Arrows nearly claimed a smash-and-grab win with efforts from Knox Mutizwa and Venter in the 83rd and 85th minutes respectively, but Williams pulled off world-class saves to keep the game at 0-0 and earn his side a share of the spoils.
The teams will be back in league action this coming weekend, with SuperSport away to Bidvest Wits on Friday night and Arrows hosting Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.