Mbombela punished City Stars again
Evidence Mahlalela
Despite trashing city stars
a heart breaking 1-0 just before the end of last year mbombela knew they were
on for a tough one as they faced Barberton City Stars over the weekend. City stars was beaten home just before last
year’s Christmas holidays and now the Barberton boys were out to revenge.
Mbombela is not easily beaten at their home ground however city stars was very determined
to be the second team to beat united this season. United kept city stars
dreaming after slaughtering the Barberton boys by two goals to nil at
Kanyamazane stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Though Mbombela might be
winning, it’s evident that the log leaders are still struggling with goals and
their players are not gelling together instead play for their own benefit not
that of the team. As crucial as the second stage is you expect the unexpected
so it would be best if players be one and play as a team rather than playing to
impress. Such mentality kept united struggling to find an early lead following
that many of the opportunities they had were never converted. City stars tried
for few chances, however united was defensively solid. Dingani Maphosa was
denied a beautiful corner to goal by the referee in the early minutes of the
first half. Beside the denied goal both teams failed to find the net and went
to a goalless first half.
With the goalless first half
mbombela decided to make changes in the second half introducing Mlungisi for
Sipho. This change impacted mbombela’s side positively while it punished city
stars following mlungisi’s beautiful first touches that led to united finding a
lead. Masuku’s goal gave mbombela the momentum they just needed because they
couldn’t stop attacking. While united started enjoying the game the visitors
were under a lot of pressure seeking for an equalizer hence united had to take
off all its defenders before they could score because united’s defence was
doing a phenomenal job. City stars kept on pushing for a goal but Simiso did a
marvellous job making super saves. When stars thought they had lost 1-0 again Masuku
scored his brace and made it 2-0 for united as they gave was about to unfold.
Masuku’s late goal gave united a 2-0 win. From the coach to the chairmen of
mbombela you could see the yoke was taken off them comparing the state they
were in at the beginning of the game this was indeed a relief. Rather than being in denial like some do,
coach Mfanimpela is being as honest as possible about the toughness of the
second round and that the teams are giving them hard time this time around but
that his side will keep on fighting like the lions they resemble. A defeat is
not easy to accept but stars accepted and they were very happy with their
side’s performance though it didn’t go their way, they just accepted that the
best team of the day won.
The game started off
just fine with a cool and calm weather, favourable for a game of football. From
the very first minute you could see that fans were thrilled with mbombela’s
performance. Mlungisi’s massive shot was too hot to be saved by the goalkeeper,
which saw united leading in the early 5th minute of the game, a
classy goal you can call it. Benfica was demoralised by the early conceding but
remained strong while united kept on fighting for another goal and made the
defenders sweat. Just when benfica’s defenders thought they had it Masukupunished
them from a beautiful striking and made it 2-0 for united. Sipho was forced out
in the late 30th minute of the game due to an injury. United had to
bring in Nkanyiso which turned out positively following nkanyiso’s great
performance which saw him scoring united’s 3rd goal just before the
end of first half.
While united came
back looking for more goals, Benfica was reluctant of a loss and hoped for 3
goals to equalize, this was just a dream that the hosts didn’t want to wake up
to. At this point of the game you could have referred to united as Blomfontein
Celtics and Benfica as MamelodiSundows. The hosts fought and finally their hard
work paid as they scored in the early minutes of second half to make it 3-1.
United didn’t give benfica the chance to stay happy with their goal as Masuku
scored his brace and made it 4-1. From this moment united didn’t give benfica the
chance to play or even attempt to visit their goalkeeper area. More goals just
kept on coming for united as Issac ‘nana’ made it 5-1 few minutes after
Masuku’s brace. This became obvious that united has won the game even magic
couldn’t have happened at that moment. Mbombela seemed to have been enjoying
their freedom and making the opponents sweat and suffer. United’s 6th
goal by Bongane ‘Ronaldo’ in the late minutes of the game was a finish off. United
regained its form and benfica was just unfortunate to have suffered the
consequences. The victory was overwhelming for the log leaders, fans couldn’t
stop singing and praising their boys for such a win after a long time. United’s
coach couldn’t hide his joy as he wrote on social networks “Sekuselekancanesingeneendumiswenibafanabami,
am very proud ngabafanabami be mbombela united, keep it up boys” with united’s
logo as his profile picture. Clearly united is beginning to see play offs at
the end of the tunnel. The log leders still have 4 more games to go with 64
points on top of the log. 
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