Tired-looking Kaizer Chiefs continued their languid conclusion to a trophy-less campaign as they played out a tepid goalless draw with Bloemfontein Celtic on Wednesday night.
It means Steve Komphela’s side have now won just once in their last 11 matches and stayed in fourth place in the Premier Soccer League standings‚ behind Platinum Stars.
Celtic’s slim hopes of a top-eight place also ended as they are stuck down in 12th place in the standings after winning a paltry three of their last 24 encounters
The first half was an exercise in wastefulness with both sides over-elaborating on the ball and undone by the need for lengthy lingering when simple one-touch football would have done the trick.
Dumisani Zuma wasted the first chance for Celtic in the 18th minute with a wild shot as the Chiefs’ defence were backing off him.
Just past the half-hour mark‚ Chiefs had a free kick which Morgan Gould‚ in for the suspended Lorenzo Gordinho‚ flicked on for Mulomowandau Mathoho‚ who blasted over from right under the crossbar.
Reneilwe Letsholonyane’s shot was then saved by Patrick Tignyemb soon after as Chiefs exchanged passes on the edge of the opposition’s penalty area.
Celtic’s counterattack posed a threat but whenever they broke they were wasteful as their decision-making was poor. Their pace is their strength‚ but not matched by footballing intelligence in the heat of battle.
On the stroke of halftime‚ there was a horror miss from Musa Nyatama after Zuma dragged the ball back perfectly into his path but the experienced midfield hit a tame shot wide with his left foot with the goal yawning ahead of him.
After halftime it did not get much better. Fiston Abdul Razak did put the ball in the net but he was offside while‚ at the other end‚ Siphiwe Tshabalala was wasteful.
The best chance in the second period also fell to Nyatama as he got an angled touch to Lyle Lakay’s free kick but did not get the requisite power to deflect the ball properly past Itumeleng Khune.
But it was one of those evenings when both teams would have needed another few hours of playing before scoring.
“We are just waiting to complete our last two games to get the season over‚” said Komphela afterwards.
‘Chiefs just waiting to get the season over‚’ said Komphela after draw
Tired-looking Kaizer Chiefs continued their languid conclusion to a trophy-less campaign as they played out a tepid goalless draw with Bloemfontein Celtic on Wednesday night.
It means Steve Komphela’s side have now won just once in their last 11 matches and stayed in fourth place in the Premier Soccer League standings‚ behind Platinum Stars.
Celtic’s slim hopes of a top-eight place also ended as they are stuck down in 12th place in the standings after winning a paltry three of their last 24 encounters
The first half was an exercise in wastefulness with both sides over-elaborating on the ball and undone by the need for lengthy lingering when simple one-touch football would have done the trick.
Dumisani Zuma wasted the first chance for Celtic in the 18th minute with a wild shot as the Chiefs’ defence were backing off him.
Just past the half-hour mark‚ Chiefs had a free kick which Morgan Gould‚ in for the suspended Lorenzo Gordinho‚ flicked on for Mulomowandau Mathoho‚ who blasted over from right under the crossbar.
Reneilwe Letsholonyane’s shot was then saved by Patrick Tignyemb soon after as Chiefs exchanged passes on the edge of the opposition’s penalty area.
Celtic’s counterattack posed a threat but whenever they broke they were wasteful as their decision-making was poor. Their pace is their strength‚ but not matched by footballing intelligence in the heat of battle.
On the stroke of halftime‚ there was a horror miss from Musa Nyatama after Zuma dragged the ball back perfectly into his path but the experienced midfield hit a tame shot wide with his left foot with the goal yawning ahead of him.
After halftime it did not get much better. Fiston Abdul Razak did put the ball in the net but he was offside while‚ at the other end‚ Siphiwe Tshabalala was wasteful.
The best chance in the second period also fell to Nyatama as he got an angled touch to Lyle Lakay’s free kick but did not get the requisite power to deflect the ball properly past Itumeleng Khune.
But it was one of those evenings when both teams would have needed another few hours of playing before scoring.
“We are just waiting to complete our last two games to get the season over‚” said Komphela afterwards.
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