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South Africa held to goalless draw by Seychelles

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From the highs of the FNB Stadium on Saturday to the lows of Stade Linite in the Seychelles, Bafana Bafana’s road to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon has hit a speed bump.

After thumping their hosts 6-0 in Johannesburg last weekend, Bafana Bafana were held to a goalless draw by the same opponents in Victoria on Tuesday afternoon.

Stuart Baxter’s team now needs three points from their remaining two matches to qualify for the biennial tournament.

Their next match is against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in Johannesburg on the 17th of November.

On paper, Bafana Bafana fielded their strongest striking force in recent memory.  The three overseas-based strikers Dino Ndlovu, Lebo Mothiba, and Percy Tau are all on top form at their respective clubs having scored a total of 22 goals between them.

Playing in front of their home crowd and in pouring rain, Bafana annihilated the Seychelles.

But on the astro-turf in Victoria, it was a different story, the visitors had numerous shots at goal — a number of them on target — but a lack of composure cost them.

The visitors pleaded for a penalty when the Seychelles defender used his hand to control the ball in the area in the first half….but in vain.

Bafana Bafana kept pushing for a goal but Tau was denied by the opposition’s keeper Jerome Dingwall.

Ndlovu proved to be a handful for the hosts, but his header seven minutes before the break sailed over the crossbar.

The Seychelles who made three changes to their starting line-up, looked a different side and managed to launch their own attacks.

The match came into life early in the second half with Mothiba denied by the crossbar.

A minute later Mothiba’s weak shot was saved by the keeper.

Unlike in the previous match, Khune was not a mere spectator in this encounter.

In fact, the Seychelles were unlucky not to score 19 minutes from time.

With just minutes to go, Dean Furman was denied by the Seychelles keeper from outside the box.

With the clock ticking, more frustration started creeping in and the Bafana Bafana players failed to find the target — and the missed opportunities might just come back to haunt them later on in the qualifying campaign.

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