Maritzburg slump to third straight loss

Nathanael Mbourou of Maritzburg United and Augustine Kwem of Chippa United during the DStv Premiership 2020/21 game between Chippa United and Maritzburg United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on 3 November 2020 © Deryck Foster/BackpagePix

by Graeme Jackson

Tuesday Nov 03, 2020. 22:09

Maritzburg United’s terrible start to the 2020-21 DStv Premiership continued unabated on Tuesday night when they slumped to a 3-1 loss away to Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The Team of Choice have now lost three in a row at the start of the campaign and only Black Leopards’ inferior goal difference has kept Eric Tinkler’s team from the ignominy of last place.

Maritzburg made all the early running and claimed the lead 10 minutes into the match, with Daylon Claasen latching onto a miscued shot from teammate Keagan Buchanan before stabbing the ball home from close range to put the visitors ahead.

Chippa didn’t let their heads drop after conceding the early goal and worked their way back into the game via a penalty in the 24th minute. Eva Nga converted from the spot, after Augustine Kwem won the penalty by drawing a foul from Nathanael Bongo Mbourou.

Chippa earned themselves a second penalty in the 58th minute when Eva Nga just managed to beat Jethren Barr to a ball in the 18-yard area and won a spot kick off the goalkeeper. The Cameroonian dusted himself off and converted from 12 yards again to make it 2-1 just before the hour mark.

Maritzburg responded with three changes, as Judas Moseamedi, Sibusiso Hlubi and Tyroane Sandows came off the bench in an attempt to change the course of the match. However, it was Chippa substitute Tumiso Mogakwe who made the next major impact.

The winger did great work to put Eva Nga through on goal and the striker completed his hat-trick with a composed low finish into the bottom corner on 66 minutes, putting the Chilli Boys in total control of the clash.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Hlubi was sent off in the 74th minute for a nasty, studs-up challenge on Sizwe Mdlinzo, eliminating any hope they had of making a comeback.

The midweek round of DStv Premiership matches continues on Wednesday evening, with the top matches seeing under-fire Kaizer Chiefs at home to TS Galaxy in a repeat of the 2019 Nedbank Cup final, while heavyweights Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns face tricky trips to Bloemfontein Celtic and Cape Town City respectively.