SuperSport United’s lack of finesse was once again on display as they played out to a 1-1 draw with basement club Black Leopards at the Thohoyandou Stadium in Limpopo on Saturday afternoon.
The result would have only heaped the pressure on Matsatsantsa boss Kaitano Tembo whose troops now have not won in eight games. The last time that they picked up three points was in a 2-1 victory over Cape Town City at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in mid-February.
Despite the result from a game which presented SuperSport with a good chance to return to winning ways, Tembo said that he saw some positive elements in the play of his side.
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“I think we started very well. There was good combination play, especially in midfield. I thought we opened them up better. We had a few opportunities in the first half. If we had taken them well, the result could have been different. At the same time, Sipho Mbule managed to score a very good goal,” said Tembo.
SuperSport did not dominate the struggling Leopards side and there were periods in the game where Lidoda Duvha dominated the game. Had it not been for two great saves from Matsatsantsa stand-in goalkeeper George Chigova in the first half, there is a good chance that Leopards could have walked away from the game with three points.
“We could have defended better when we conceded. It was a two versus one situation where one deals with the attack and the other one covers. We went for the same ball and that is how we were caught. I’m quite happy with the overall performance. I thought we played well. We had about fifteen shots at goal though only four were on target. Our performance in front of goal has been our huge disappointment,” said Tembo.
SuperSport’s lack of form has coincided with injury issues to forward pairing Thamsanqa Gabuza and Bradley Grobler. However, they would have had some relief after Grobler was able to finally make a comeback to action against Leopards, albeit as a substitute late in the second half.
“We were happy that Bradley (Grobler) could play for the final 15-minutes. He is not yet match fit but he will be able to get more minutes in our upcoming game on Tuesday against Moroka Swallows. It will not be an easy game as Swallows are doing well. They just got a crucial point against Celtic. We can only grow in confidence and take the positives from this game into our next game,” said Tembo.
@EshlinV
IOL Sport