Another goalless draw! Stuart Baxter must be extremely disappointed with SuperSport United’s result against Free State Stars, having played to the same scoreline against the same side in the first round.
A win at the James Motlatsi Stadium in Orkney would have seen SuperSport retain their place at the top of the Premiership with a better goal difference than both Wits and Cape Town City.
SuperSport’s performance gave a clear indication that they are likely to struggle with keeping up with the demands that come with having to participate in three competitions, and do well in all of them as this second round progresses.
Baxter made six changes in the starting line-up, playing to a goalless draw against Elgeco Plus FC in their preliminary first leg encounter of their Caf Confederation Cup campaign.
Aubrey Modiba only came on in the second half, with Baxter hoping that the Under-23 international could unlock the opposition’s defence with only about 10 minutes before stoppage time.
But, he couldn’t.
Free State remained superb in defence. In the first half, Baxter’s side struggled to keep up with the pace. Ea Lla Koto were dictating matters in the final third, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Two of their chances were denied by the woodwork in the first five minutes.
Moeketsi Sekola jogged away in disbelief after his shot had scrapped over the crossbar for a goal kick. Then Danny Venter followed. The pacy midfielder tried to curl in a beauty with the inside of his left boot, but his shot went wide.
Serame Letsoaka, who was watching from the sidelines as his Stars side fluffed chance after chance, couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.
Baxter, on the other hand, remained well composed in his dug-out. His side was handling the pressure well, though at times it looked like they weren’t determined enough to exert pressure of their own in the final third.
Matsatsantsa a Pitori only had a single decent chance to punish their opponents in the first half, but they didn’t make full use of it. Thabo Mnyamane delivered a beauty of a cross inside the area, after Matsatsantsa were awarded a set-piece.
Morgan Gould leaped for it, but lacked that finishing touch to punish Christopher Mafoumbi between the sticks. His header bounced off the crossbar as well.
Both sides picked up from where they left off in the first period in the second half of the game. Ea Lla Koto continued pressing forward for goals, while SuperSport continued to play deep at the back.
Both teams created a decent amount of chances, but they couldn’t find the back of the net.
@Mohau_Ra