United burst Celtic's bubble - Lentjies seals win

Four days after their demolition of Absa Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns, Bloemfontein Celtic were brought down to earth by Maritzburg United yesterday.

Kurt Lentjies's ninth- minute strike separated the two sides at the end of an uneventful clash in Botshabelo, Free State.

The inconsistency of local teams was in full view as Celtic, ruthless as they walloped Sundowns 5-0 last Wednesday, seemed to have forgotten how to score.

Credit should be given to the visiting coach Steve Komphela for how he set up his team, but Phunya Sele Sele hardly made Maritzburg goalkeeper Virgil Vries work.

With joint PSL top scorer Lerato Lamola and Gabadinho Mhango again leading the Celtic attack, the expectation was that the home side would quickly find a leveller when they went down barely 10 minutes into the first half.

Clinton Larsen's men had been caught unaware when Delion Mekoa whipped what looked a hopeless cross into the box to find Lenjties, who was fully committed and got his foot on the ball for the goal.

Larsen had made changes to the team that annihilated Sundowns last week by leaving out Thapelo Morena, who scored one of the goals against the Brazilians.

The attacker was brought on in the second half to try to swing the tide in Celtic's favour but was unsuccessful. One of his shots at goal came off the woodwork in the 48th minute.

Ultimately, football had humbled Larsen and his men.

But Maritzburg were also fortunate to have a keeper who was at the right place at the right time when he needed to be, in skipper Vries.

Komphela's men improved their log position as they have quickly moved away from the relegation zone and are eyeing a top-eight finish.