This was not an exciting match, but Bloemfontein Celtic coach Veselin Jelusic will not be bothered as his side came from a goal down to claim their third successive win in all competitions and ensured a place in the Telkom Knockout semifinals.
For Stars coach Roger de Sa it is a missed opportunity as they failed to protect their early lead by allowing Celtic to score twice in the second half and their name will not be in the draw today after the clash between Chippa United and Kaizer Chiefs.
LONG BALL
The match was played in scorching heat in Rustenburg and by the time the water arrived in the 24th minute, neither side had created clear scoring chances as they struggled to move into second gear in front of a small crowd at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg.
The two coaches took the opportunity to issue instructions and Celtic responded first with attacker Jacky Motshegwa's close-range shot parried away for a corner by Stars goalkeeper Dino Visser.
Stars opened the scoring on the half hour when Bonginkosi Ntuli sneaked past the napping Celtic defence and their goalkeeper Tignyemb to pounce onto a long and delightful goalkick by Visser.Celtic should have easily defended Visser's long ball into their box but completely forgot the basics of defending as they failed to pick up unmarked Ntuli who reacted quickly to punish them.
Celtic went into this match with confidence after they defeated SuperSport United in the previous round last week and the Maritzburg in the league this week and Stars saw their two match unbeaten run ended.
GREAT SAVE
Ten minutes after the restart Ntuli had a chance but he failed to score his second as goalkeeper Tignyemb produced a wonderful save to parry his shot to safety.
Lantshene Phalane equalised for the visitors with a well struck free-kick from the edge of the penalty box when he curled his low shot around the Stars defensive wall after Siyabonga Zulu was judged to have hacked down Tshepo Rikhotso three minutes before the hour mark.
Celtic completed their comeback in stunning style nine minutes from time when substitute Tshegofatsho Mabaso rounded off a brilliant attacking move to put matters beyond doubt...