Spurs coach Shaun Bartlett living on borrowed time as Mayo's brace inspires City to Cape derby win

Cape Town Spurs coach Shaun Bartlett continues to live on borrowed time after his side suffered its seventh successive defeat in the DStv Premiership on Saturday, losing 3-1 to Cape Town City at Cape Town Stadium.   

A penalty from Darwin Gonzalez on 43 minutes and a second-half brace from Khanyisa Mayo helped the Citizens to claim the bragging rights in the Cape derby and arrest their winless run of five matches.   

The Urban Warriors, who are yet to register a point since their return to the big time, had opened the scoring as early as three minutes into the clash through Ashley Cupido.   

The two Cape sides came to the clash desperate to put an end to their respective poor run of results in the league.   

The Citizens had failed to register a victory in their previous five outings.   

Eric Tinkler’s men had managed four defeats and a draw, a concerning run for the side that finished in the top four last season.    

On the other hand, Spurs continued the search for their first win, or at least a draw in the top tier. They have now lost all seven of their matches, the worst start by any team in the DStv Premiership.    

It remains to be seen how much time Spurs' owners will afford the under-pressure Bartlett to try to turn things about. 

Bartlett’s charges had an enviable start to the Cape derby, where they scored in the third minute through Ashley Cupido.   

The goal came after the industrious Chumani Butsaka dispossessed City’s Marc van Heerden in the middle of the park and launched a counterattack by setting up Cupido who made no mistake.   

After the goal, Spurs did most of the defending which led to an exciting battle between City’s talented youngster Jaedin Rhodes, 20, and Urban Warriors’ 38-year-old defender Nazeer Allie.   

The versatile Rhodes, who can play either side of the pitch, promises to be one of the youngsters to watch in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) this season.   

Spurs also did well in blocking any kind of services for dangerous Khanyisa Mayo for most of the opening half.   

Urban Warriors’ solid defence forced Tinkler to make an early change as he brought on Thabiso Kutumela for Juan Zapata on 33 minutes to deal with the lack of activity on their right side.   

The loss of veteran centre back Clayton Daniels appeared to have weakened Spurs’ defence a little bit.   

The 39-year-old Daniels had to be replaced by Siyanda Msani on 35 minutes after he collided with his own goalkeeper Sam Ramsbottom.   

The Citizens’ pressure on Spurs saw the hosts’ win a penalty after Rushwin Dortley handled the ball inside the box.   

Gonzalez stepped up and scored his first goal of the season from the spot two minutes before the break.   

Both sides played attacking football in the final stanza, but it was City who enjoyed more time in the opponent's half, with Mayo functioning better in the last 45 minutes.   

Mayo scored the first of two goals on 70 minutes when he finished off a good cross by Gonzalez.   

The striker put the game beyond Spurs, who boast the worst defence in the league, when he helped the ball over the line from Kutumela’s excellent play on 86 minutes.

The victory will be a big morale boost for City as they travel to Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday while Spurs will hope for a positive result against SuperSport United on Wednesday.