Maritzburg United held the run-away log leaders, Kaizer Chiefs, to a 1-all draw in an ABSA Premiership match at the Harry Gwala stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday afternoon.
Amakhosi were first on the scoreboard with Lebohang Manyama’s goal, only for Judas Moseamedi to capitalise on poor defending by Chiefs. In another match, AmaZulu claimed maximum points away to Bloemfontein Celtic.
A manicured turf at the Harry Gwala stadium Kaizer Chiefs travelled to Pietermaritzburg looking to avenge last month’s Telkom Knockout Cup semi-final loss to Maritzburg United.
Judas Moseamedi who was a thorn on Amakhosi’s defence in Mbombela, was in the starting line-up for this match as well. Chiefs were unfortunate not to open the scoring inside the first five minutes of the match.
Amakhosi kept on piling on the pressure and it eventually paid off, with Lebohang Manyama making it 1-NIL.
George Maluleka had a chance to make it 2-NIL to Chiefs, but in vain. The Eric Tinkler-led troops were resilient. They absorbed the pressure and pushed numbers forward in search of an equaliser. Moseamedi continued from where he left off in Mbombela.
At halftime, the two teams were level pegging at 1-ALL. Early in the second half, Chiefs were pushing to take the lead once again but Richard Ofori was having none-of it. Maritzburg were also pushing for maximum points in the match.
Willard Katsande committed a foul inside the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. However, Daylon Claasen failed to capitalise.
Khama Billiat should have done better with only 12 minutes left on the clock. The two sides were at each other throats. Maritzburg nearly claimed three points at the death.
In Free State, Bloemfontein Cetic were at home against AmaZulu. Usuthu was looking to move away from the relegation zone with an away positive result but it was the home side that was celebrating after the half hour mark.
AmaZulu, however, were not deterred. They pushed for an equaliser and they were duly rewarded. Early in the second half, Usuthu took the lead. The visitors held on for a famous victory.
