SuperSport's two in four minutes too good for Swallows at Dobsonville

15 December 2023 - 17:48 By SITHEMBISO DINDI AT DOBSONVILLE STADIUM
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SuperSport United's Gamphani Lungu, right, during the DStv Premiership match against Moroka Swallows at Dobsonville Stadium on Friday.
SuperSport United's Gamphani Lungu, right, during the DStv Premiership match against Moroka Swallows at Dobsonville Stadium on Friday.
Image: Lee Warren/Gallo Images

SuperSport United staged an impressive late comeback to beat Moroka Swallows 2-1 in a scrappy DStv Premiership game at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto on Friday.  

The men from Pretoria scored two goals inside the final five minutes of regulation time through substitutes Tendamudzimu Matodzi (85 minutes) and Etiosa Ighodaro (89 minutes).  

The victory helped coach Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport end their winless run of three matches in the league while Swallows’ winless streak has been stretched to four matches.  

Swallows appeared to have done enough to avoid the defeat in the clash as they were leading by an odd goal which was scored by Gabadihno Mhango on 69 minutes. Some terrible defending by the Dube Birds was the main reason for their downfall at home.  

SuperSport moved to second on the log with 26 points from 14 matches. They are seven points behind Mamelodi Sundowns, who have played only 11 games. 

Swallows and SuperSport were desperately looking to return to winning ways in the league as they both had gone for three matches without a win.  In the previous three outings, Swallows played to a draw against Polokwane City before losing back-to-back Soweto derbies to Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.  

SuperSport drew against Polokwane before their losses against Sekhukhune United and Sundowns.  

Coincidentally, the two sides had last won against TS Galaxy.  

SuperSport were the stronger side but didn’t create enough chances to break the deadlock as the teams went to the break locked at 0-0.  

Their best chance to get ahead came on the stroke of halftime when Kegan Johannes was denied by Swallows keeper Daniel Akpeyi.  

While Swallows also created their chances, they never caused serious problems for their visitors.  

In a bid to boost his side’s attack, Swallows coach Steve Komphela brought in Mhango for Kagiso Malinga and replaced Dumisani Zuma with Tlakusani Mthethwa early in the second stanza.   

The men from Pretoria continued to dominate in the early part of the final half, however, they couldn’t utilise their chances.  

As the game looked more and more as if it was going to end in stalemate, Mhango opened the scoring on 69 minutes with a well-taken freekick.  

Mhango was brought down on the edge of the box by a SuperSport defender and stepped up to slot the ball in.  

But they couldn’t hold on as SuperSport staged a comeback with two quick goals from Matodzi and Ighodaro, who scored with only a minute left before fulltime.

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