SuperSport United’s win over Arrows was inspired by Zakhele Lepasa, who scored a brace for his first contribution for the club.
Johannesburg – SuperSport United are slowly consolidating their status as this season’s Premiership runners-up.
Matsantsantsa hung on for a win to beat Golden Arrows 2-1 at home on Sunday night to move five points clear of the third-placed Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
SuperSport’s win was inspired by Zakhele Lepasa who scored a brace for his first contribution for the club, while Arrows remained 12th on the standings and six points clear of the relegation zone.
That victory meant that SuperSport’s Caf Champions League aspirations remained on track especially ahead of their visit to Pirates, who are also chasing for that No.2 spot.
🚨FULL-TIME SCORE UPDATE🚨
SuperSport United 2 – 1 @goldenarrowsfc1
Home victory for Matsatsantsa! ➕3⃣ in the bag! Well done Spartans!👏#MatsatsantsaUnified | #DStvPrem pic.twitter.com/WgZPEJ6XWb
— SuperSport United FC (@SuperSportFC) March 5, 2023
After Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs’ respective wins over the weekend, SuperSport had to win at all costs on Sunday if they were to tighten their grip in second spot.
But of course that was easier said than done as they had to do that without Bradley Grobler, who was suspended despite being honoured for his century of goals in the PSL before the start of the game.
Family and collegues gathered around to celebrate and congratulate Bradley for his iconic accolade! 👏
Once again, well done on this, Sniper! 💙#MatsatsantsaUnified | #100ForBradley pic.twitter.com/B5tqGlSDPg
— SuperSport United FC (@SuperSportFC) March 5, 2023
In the absence of Grobler the scoring responsibilities were passed on to both Lepasa and Thamsanqa Gabuza up front.
Lepasa endured the most pressure given that he was yet to get off the mark since joining the club on loan from Pirates during deadline day of the January transfer window.
But the youngster duly took the responsibility head-on, scoring his brace in less than an hour as SuperSport put daylight between them and the visitors.
Lepasa’s first goal in the first half ensured that his team went into the break with the lead after slotting home from close-range in what was the best move of the first half.
Lepasa completed his brace early in the second half in with some style, pressing his markers before creating acres of space for himself to fire into the top corner.
Despite almost guaranteed to claim all three points, SuperSport didn’t leave anything to chance. Instead, they continued to keep things tidy and neat in the middle and up front.
And they needed to do that to give comfort to their defence as Thulani Hlatshwayo, Thatayone Dithlokhwe and Keagan Johannes all sat on three yellow cards; a fourth would see them miss the trip to Pirates.
Johannes came close to finding his team’s third after having a striker’s instinct in the box, eliminating fellow defenders, only to force out a brilliant save from Siyabonga Mbatha.
And soon thereafter, SuperSport would come close to conceding after Knox Mutizwa unleashed a thunderbolt that forced Ricardo Goss into a high-flying save.
Arrows continued to exert the pressure, though, and were given a lifeline after winning a penalty that Mutizwa calmly converted following a foul from Thubelihle Magubane in the box.
There was a nervy end to this match for SuperSport as Arrows threw everything, including the kitchen sink into the fray in search of an equaliser, but their efforts were futile despite an effort from Bongumusa Nkosi and Goss’ blunder.
