Golden Arrows clinched a narrow 1-0 win over Chippa United while Free State Stars and Maritzburg United played out to a 1-1 draw at the James Motlatsi Stadium on Saturday.
Abafana Bes’thende narrowly overcame the Chilli Boys in their Absa Premiership clash at the Princess Magogo Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The opening stages of the match got off to a slow start with the Chilli Boys pressing high early on to try force Arrows into making errors.
Chippa goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi was called into action as early as the sixth minute and he was forced into a save to deny Arrows winger Wayde Jooste to keep the scores level.
The Nigeria international was again called into action to rescue his side on the half-hour mark as he latched on to a dangerous corner from Jooste.
On the stroke of half-time, Abafana Bes’thende nearly took the lead but Chippa midfielder Andile Mbenyane could not find the back of the net.
Chippa midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch did well to block Arrows star Siyabonga Dube’s attempt twelve minutes into the second-half.
However, Arrows took the lead in the 64th minute when midfielder Vuyani Ntanga hit the back of the net with a right-footed effort to make it 1-0 to the home side.
Mbenyane nearly restored parity in the 83rd minute when the midfielder unleashed a powerful shot which missed the target as the score remained 1-0.
However, Arrows held on to claim a 1-0 victory over Chippa United to walk away with all three points in the Absa Premiership.
Meanwhile, Free State Stars were held to a 1-1 draw by Maritzburg United in the Absa Premiership at the James Motlatsi Stadium on Saturday.
The deadlock was finally broken nine minutes into the second-half when Goodman Dlamini scored with a right-footed effort to make it 1-0 to Stars.
The Team of Choice had to wait till the until the 84th minute to level matters when they were awarded a penalty after Davis Nkausu handled the ball in the box.
Maritzburg United captain Kurt Lentjies stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake to beat Ea Lla Koto goalkeeper Thela Ngobeni from the spot-kick to make it 1-1.
Both teams launched late attacks in search of finding a winning goal but neither side could create any clear cut chances at goal as the score remained level until the final whistle.
Image: BackpagePix/Muzi Ntombela
