Polokwane City made it two league wins out of two this season after a 93rd-minute goal Mohammed Anas earned them a 1-0 victory over AmaZulu at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
On the balance of play in a game which lacked in goalmouth action, a draw would have arguably been a fair result, and that’s how it seemed destined to be until the last-gasp winner.
The result leaves Usuthu without a point from their opening two matches, while the Limpopo outfit, who beat Black Leopards 1-0 last weekend, move to the top of the table.
There was a flurry of early action, with AmaZulu keeper Siyabonga Mbatha forced into making an excellent reflex save in the opening seconds in order to keep out a rasping angled drive from Anas.
Two minutes later, Polokwane keeper George Chigova was lucky to get away what would have been a real howler as he failed to control a routine back-pass, with the ball just trickling past the upright much to his relief.
That however, was the last time either keeper was called into any noteworthy action during the remainder of the first half as both teams failed to create any further chances, bar a couple of off-target efforts.
This was a result of the competitive nature of the midfield battle, with neither side afforded the time or space to come up with anything creative in an attacking sense.
The game opened up a bit after the half time interval, with Usuthu having the first opportunity on goal in the 52nd minute through Andre de Jong, whose volley was sweetly struck, but straight at Chigova.
At the other end, a 63rd-minute free kick from Jabulani Maluleke had Mbatha scrambling as the ball flew over the defensive wall and dipped inches wide of the target.
But although the contest remained energetic as both teams tried to push for a goal, chances were again to dry up with the exception of a couple of tame efforts from range from the home side.
With the game deep in added time and seemingly drifting towards a draw, Wiseman Maluleke beautifully chested a cross towards Anas, who stole in between two defenders before nodding the ball past Mbatha and into the net.