Birds back to winning ways

Johannesburg - The sight of Lerato Chabangu scoring the winning goal for Moroka Swallows is becoming all too familiar as the midfielder's brace guided his team to a 3-2 victory over Polokwane City in their PSL clash at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday.

For the third time this season Chabangu was the difference as he bagged the deciding goal in the 82nd minute having previously scored the winning goals against Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu.

The midfield linchpin scored his first goal in the 27th minute with a header after Siyabonga Nomvethe beat two challengers to make an inch perfect cross into the box.

In reply, City launched a resurgent comeback which resulted in an equaliser by defender Thapelo Tshilo, whose well directed header beat Greg Etafia in the 31st minute.

It did not take long for City to take control of the match as Puleng Tlolane powered his team into the lead for the first time in the match two minutes after their first goal.

When it appeared City would head into the interval on top, Swallows attacking ace Vuyisile Wana levelled matters before the referee blew for half-time.

Both teams had exchanges in attack in the opening 25 minutes, which suggested that goals were looming in the openly played match.

City winger Jabu Maluleke and Linda Shiba kept the opposition defence on their toes with their enterprising running style and combination play.

The visitors nearly broke the deadlock in the 12th minute after the pair unlocked the Swallows backline, but Shiba's inviting cross lacked a willing recipient to tap the ball into the back of the net.

Swallows for some time were living dangerously as the tenacious City easily sliced open their fragile centre pairing of Rudi Isaacs and Luvhengo Mungomeni.

Having started the season in positive fashion, both teams went into the clash looking to bounce back from defeats in their most recent encounters.

Swallows got off to a blistering start to the Premiership having bagged wins in their two opening matches against Pirates and AmaZulu by the same 2-1 margin to surge up the table.

However, they crashed back to earth when they were defeated by defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns last week.

City entered the match in search of their second win of the season having suffered defeats in their last two matches.

The Limpopo-based outfit lost back-to-back matches against Ajax Cape Town and Maritzburg United, both 2-1, having won their season opener 1-0 against University of Pretoria.

City winger Linda Shiba gave the opposition wing backs a torrid time with his skillful ball trickery.

Were it not for Essau Kanyenda's poor final touch in the penalty box, City could have snatched maximum points from the Dube Birds.