SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo could not hide his excitement after his team bounced back to winning ways in the DStv Premiership.
The Zimbabwean-born mentor could afford a smile as his charges recorded a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Cape Town City at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Tshwane at the weekend. The three-time league champions reduced the gap on log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns to two points. Tembo’s men are second on the log table with 31 points from 16 matches.
Matsatsantsa a Pitori were first held to a 1-1 draw by Swallows followed by the Nedbank Cup elimination against Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila and the 2-1 defeat against Bloemfontein Celtic in their last league outing.
But Tembo breathed a sigh of relief and could not stop smiling as his team registered its first win over the Mother City-based outfit in eight matches. Ending their three-game winless run in all competitions relieved the pressure on him. The 50-year-old technician commended his troops for their fighting spirit against their bogey side.
Gampani Lungu and Thamsanqa Gabuza were on the score sheet for the home side. Skipper and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams failed to keep out a Surprise Ralani shot to allow the visitors to draw level eight minutes in the second half. But Williams atoned for his goalkeeping error by pulling off brilliant saves in the last stages of the game.
Lungu scored 23 minutes into the first half and Gabuza snatched the winner 10 minutes from time. “We played well and deserved the three points. Good work ethic from the boys. I’m happy because we’ve beaten City for the first time. They have given us problems over the years,” said a relieved Tembo.
Matsatsantsa have a couple of days to recover before their next league game against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Saturday (3pm). “We have more days to try to recover and also train to prepare for Chiefs. Games are coming in thick and fast,” he said.
Tembo said staying in touch with Sundowns motivates his team. “We wanted to win this game because we were playing at home and also to reduce the gap on Sundowns,” said Tembo.
The Citizens lost 2-0 against Pirates followed by a defeat to SuperSport in the same week. But coach Jan Riekerink said they will bounce back. “We will bounce back, it’s been a tough week. The two defeats hurt us, but we have to recover from these losses. We have the quality to do that,” he said.
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