SuperSport labour to a goalless draw in Guinea but still look for good for quarters

01 July 2017 - 19:16 By Mahlatse Mphahlele
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Teboho Mokoena of SuperSport United during the Absa Premiership match between SuperSport United and Cape Town City FC at Lucas Moripe Stadium on May 09, 2017 in Pretoria.
Teboho Mokoena of SuperSport United during the Absa Premiership match between SuperSport United and Cape Town City FC at Lucas Moripe Stadium on May 09, 2017 in Pretoria.
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images

Continental football can be easy on the eye at the best of times but the goalless Caf Confederation Cup, group stages draw between Horoya AC and SuperSport United at the 28 Septembre Stadium in Conakry on Saturday night showed the darker side of this competition.Low on quality and limited number of chances, Horoya and United dished out a scrappy affair that was littered with so many school-boy errors as they battled out for a point.United interim coach Kaitano Tembo, who travelled to Guinea with only four substitutes, will nonetheless welcome the share of the spoils as the away point keep them in the running for a place in the quarter-finals.United are second in Group D seven points from five matches and they will be hoping that third placed TP Mazembe fail to get a favourable result on Sunday when they visit bottom of the table CF Mounana in Libreville.

The opening half lacked the spark as there were not many notable attacking chances to excite the small crowd as most of the action was saturated in the midfield leaving the two goalkeepers with little to do as they were rarely tested.On the few occasions where Horoya found themselves in the United danger area, their midfielders tricky and speedy Ocansey Mandela and Ibrahima Sankhon were unsuccessful in getting the better of the United defence and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.On the part of United, they also had a few moments of their own on the attack through midfielder Thuso Phala and striker Kingston Nkhatha but home goalkeeper Khadim N'Diaye reacted well on both occasions.United midfielders Dean Furman, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Michael Morton and Thabo Mnyamane struggled as they were kept busy in trying to break some of the moves that that Horoya tried to put together from the midfield.With three minutes remaining in the half, United suffered a major scare when Nkhatha remained on the floor after he collided with N'Diaye but he Zimbabwean international was able to continue with the match after medical attention.

Barely a minute after restart, Mandela found himself in the United penalty area but he was put off balance by United defender Morgan Gould and he failed to connect with the ball that could have troubled Williams.Horora came out for the second half more purposeful and just before the hour mark substitute striker Yakhouba Mendo broke loose on the right wing but his shot from close range could not find the target much to the frustration of the home fans.The two teams increased slightly in the second half as they went for the winner but the match that ended on a sour note with the home fans throwing missiles onto the pitch after the match as they believed they were denied a penalty in the closing stages. - TimesLIVE

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