Celtic climb league table with hard fought win

by Brian Lee

Sunday Jan 07, 2018. 17:57

Bloemfontein Celtic climbed the Absa Premiership table with a hard fought 2-1 win over Golden Arrows at the Dr Molemela Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Phunya Sele Sele moved into the top eight of the table when they currently occupy sixth place with 23 points from 15 matches, only five points adrift of league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

Celtic started well and applied pressure from the opening whistle with the first chance on goal coming in the seventh minute when Dean Hotto broke through on goal, but he was superbly denied by the Arrows keeper.

Celtic took the lead just before the half hour mark when Nkosingiphile Gumede failed to control a cross into the box, spilling the ball into the path of Victor Letsoalo who easily tapped home from close range, 1-0.

The home team doubled their lead in the dying seconds of the first half when some swift interplay by the Bloemfontein side saw Hotto in space just inside the left edge of the box and he duly fired home to make it 2-0.

Arrows came out strong in the second half and push forward from the outset.

The Durban-based side made their pressure tell in the 68th minute when Thomas Chideu pulled a goal back after he was the quickest to react from a shot hitting the crossbar and he dully tapped the ball into the back of the net, 2-1.

Arrows saw the majority of the ball after pulling a goal back and pushed hard for an equaliser, but they were unable to break down a stubborn Celtic defence as the match ended 2-1.

The loss for Arrows sees them in the wrong half of the table where they occupy tenth place with 18 points form 16 matches, only five points above the relegation zone.

Bloemfontein Celtic (2) 2 (Letsoalo 29’, Hotto 45’)

Golden Arrows (0) 1 (Chideu 68’)

Teams

Celtic: Tignyemb, Pfumbidzai, Rikhotso, Ndengane, Letsoalo (Maruping 78’), Maema (Dlamini 64’), Gordinho, Baloyi, Hotto, Mabena (Nyundu 93’), Phalane.

Arrows: Gumede, Dube, Mathiane, Mzava, Nkombelo, Ndwandwe, Bilankulu, Magubane (Venter 46’), Lamola (Chideu 62’), Mahachi (Jooste 82’), Mutizwa.