Goals from Isaac Nlapho and Tintswalo Tshabalala inside the opening 10 minutes propelled struggling Platinum Stars a deserved 4-0 Absa Premiership victory over table-topping Cape Town City at the Athlone Stadium on Tuesday.
Stars should have won by a wider margin as they dominated the chances and grabbed two more in the second half through Bongi Ntuli and Ndumiso Mabena as they outplayed a City side apparently still hung-over from their Telkom Knockout final victory on Saturday.
Stars looked sharper in everything they did and ended a four-game losing streak to relieve some of the pressure on coach Cavin Johnson.
For City it was a first loss in 11 games dating back two months to an equally abject display in a home defeat to Baroka FC in mid-October. It is also a record defeat for the fledgling top-flight side.
City coach Eric Tinkler made three changes from the team that started the Telkom Knockout final, two of them in defence.
Robyn Johannes and Thamsanqa Mkhize were replaced by Joseph Adjei and Vincent Kobola respectively, while Matt Sim came into the midfield for Mpho Matsi.
It took only four minutes for Stars to hit the front as tall defender Nhlapo turned the ball home from Ndumiso Mabena’s centre.
Robert Ng’ambi was the provider for the second as the City defence again stood static to allow Tshabalala to head home completely unchallenged.
It took 20 minutes for City to get into the game. Roland Putsche had the ball in the back of the net from a header after a succession of corners, but the 'goal' was ruled out for a foul on Stars keeper Mbongeni Mzimela.
Sibusiso Masina worked some space for himself on the edge of the box with a neat piece of control, but his powerful shot sailed just over the crossbar.
City brought on an extra striker at the start of the second half in cup final hero Judas Moseamedi for Sim, but it was Stars who had the first opening, Siphiwe Mnguni shooting wide after dancing his way into the box.
Namibia international Benson Shilongo should have made it 3-0 when he caught a clear sight of goal, but pushed his effort wide, while Solomon Mathe fired just over the bar as the chances continued to fall the way of the visitors.
Ng’ambi was the latest to fluff an opportunity when the visitors broke with a three-on-three, but his tame shot was easy for Shu-Aib Walters in the City goal.
They finally did get their third as Ntuli chased a pass from Mathe and found himself one-on-one with the keeper, easily rounding Walters to score.
And the fourth was as simple, Stars worked Mabena into space on the right of the defence and he coolly slotted the ball past a helpless Walters.
The night got worse late on for the home side when their Ghanaian centre-back Adjei was red-carded for a second bookable offense.
City will have little time to dwell on their disappointment as they host SuperSport United at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday evening. Stars entertain Maritzburg United a day later.
Platinum Stars run riot against Cape Town City
Goals from Isaac Nlapho and Tintswalo Tshabalala inside the opening 10 minutes propelled struggling Platinum Stars a deserved 4-0 Absa Premiership victory over table-topping Cape Town City at the Athlone Stadium on Tuesday.
Stars should have won by a wider margin as they dominated the chances and grabbed two more in the second half through Bongi Ntuli and Ndumiso Mabena as they outplayed a City side apparently still hung-over from their Telkom Knockout final victory on Saturday.
Stars looked sharper in everything they did and ended a four-game losing streak to relieve some of the pressure on coach Cavin Johnson.
For City it was a first loss in 11 games dating back two months to an equally abject display in a home defeat to Baroka FC in mid-October. It is also a record defeat for the fledgling top-flight side.
City coach Eric Tinkler made three changes from the team that started the Telkom Knockout final, two of them in defence.
Robyn Johannes and Thamsanqa Mkhize were replaced by Joseph Adjei and Vincent Kobola respectively, while Matt Sim came into the midfield for Mpho Matsi.
It took only four minutes for Stars to hit the front as tall defender Nhlapo turned the ball home from Ndumiso Mabena’s centre.
Robert Ng’ambi was the provider for the second as the City defence again stood static to allow Tshabalala to head home completely unchallenged.
It took 20 minutes for City to get into the game. Roland Putsche had the ball in the back of the net from a header after a succession of corners, but the 'goal' was ruled out for a foul on Stars keeper Mbongeni Mzimela.
Sibusiso Masina worked some space for himself on the edge of the box with a neat piece of control, but his powerful shot sailed just over the crossbar.
City brought on an extra striker at the start of the second half in cup final hero Judas Moseamedi for Sim, but it was Stars who had the first opening, Siphiwe Mnguni shooting wide after dancing his way into the box.
Namibia international Benson Shilongo should have made it 3-0 when he caught a clear sight of goal, but pushed his effort wide, while Solomon Mathe fired just over the bar as the chances continued to fall the way of the visitors.
Ng’ambi was the latest to fluff an opportunity when the visitors broke with a three-on-three, but his tame shot was easy for Shu-Aib Walters in the City goal.
They finally did get their third as Ntuli chased a pass from Mathe and found himself one-on-one with the keeper, easily rounding Walters to score.
And the fourth was as simple, Stars worked Mabena into space on the right of the defence and he coolly slotted the ball past a helpless Walters.
The night got worse late on for the home side when their Ghanaian centre-back Adjei was red-carded for a second bookable offense.
City will have little time to dwell on their disappointment as they host SuperSport United at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday evening. Stars entertain Maritzburg United a day later.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos