Cape Town – Cape Town City’s two-pronged attack of Khanyisa Mayo and Darwin Gonzalez finally brought an end to the glorious hitherto unbeaten run by TS Galaxy who went down 1-0 at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday.
Mayo’s 15th-minute goal also brought an end to Galaxy’s dramatic sequence of five consecutive clean sheets by goalkeeper Melusi Buthelezi. The goal capped an enterprising start by City who took the game by the scruff of the neck and could have put the result beyond doubt after only 10 minutes.
Venezuelan striker Gonzalez teased and tormented the Galaxy defence out wide and his cross from the left flank was met by Mayo who cracked the ball into the roof of the net. It was a cracking drive and Buthelezi was left high and dry as he watched on helplessly.
City coach Eric Tinkler said there were three goals up for grabs in the opening nine minutes.
“It was a massive effort from us because we knew it would be tough,” said Tinkler. “We knew they rely heavily on combinations, and we came prepared.
“They are not the tallest team, but they have a lot of tricky players who are technically good in small spaces.
“This is what we had to contend with, and I thought we dealt with their threats extremely well, especially in the last 15 to 20 minutes when they put us under a lot of pressure.
“I think we should have killed the game off in the first half. I counted three box entries and three chances in the first nine minutes and those chances you must take. That (missed chances) has been an issue for us since the start of the season. It is something we need to continue to work on.”
It was a somewhat strange second half because City never looked like losing but Galaxy enjoyed a greater possession advantage. City had a call for a penalty turned down and scored a goal which was disallowed because the match officials did not see the ball crossing the goal line after a parting shot by Mayo.
“We had our moments in the second half where we could have got the winner,” said Tinkler.
“I thought there was the (opposition) player who used his hand and we should have had a penalty.
“Overall, we deserved the result, and we were the better team on the day.
“We also missed out on the Mayo goal which everybody saw on the big screen in the stadium, barring the referee.
“Once they started the second half one goal down you knew they were going to gamble. Early in the second half, they brought on Lefa Hlongwane for Mlungisi Mbunjana. They started playing wide and that’s when we went with five at the back.
“Lefa is good in tight spaces and with him orchestrating the attacks we felt we should be able to deal with the type of (goalmouth) crosses they are capable of.”
With this win, City have now gone four Premiership games without defeat, and sit seventh on the table with eight points, one adrift of Galaxy.
Next up for City will be a home fixture against Sekhukhune United on Tuesday evening.
IOL Sport