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Bloemfontein - A goal four minutes from time netted by Zambian international Joseph Musonda earned Golden Arrows a 2-2 draw against Bloemfontein Celtic at a rain soaked Seisa Ramabodu Stadium on Tuesday night.
The draw keeps Celtic in sixth place on 40 points with two matches remaining. But the point may not be enough to see Arrows qualify for the top eight and defend the MTN8 title they won this season.
Arrows have 31 points with two fixtures to play but are four points behind eighth placed Moroka Swallows who still have three matches remaining.
The match was played in terrible conditions. Pouring rain throughout the day had left the pitch in a quagmire of puddles, which made passing soccer impossible and once the ball hit any of the many puddles it went dead. As a result the game became a lottery.
But referee Peter Mabuza decided that the match could continue. Maybe the fact that the PSL are under pressure to end the season on March 6 to allow Bafana Bafana head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira to take his squad to train in his native Brazil for the remainder of March was part of his reasoning to let the game go on in spite of the prevailing conditions.
Mabuza extended the halftime break by five minutes to allow the ground staff to sweep away some of the puddles.
Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi slammed the conditions: “I do not understand why the PSL allows matches to be played under these conditions. It was not fair to either team or players who risked injury.”
Arrows netted the only goal of the half two minutes from the break against the run of play with a stunning striker from Vusumuzi Vilakazi, which cannoned off the upright and into the back of the net giving keeper Patrick Tignyemb no chance.
It was the first time that Arrows had a shot on target in the match.
Celtic despite the poor conditions created all the running and held the upper hand. But failed to capitalise on those chances.
In the 19th minute Arrows keeper Thulasizwe Khuzwayo did well to fist Cecil Oerson’s in swinging corner out of the danger area. Three minutes later Celtic defender Johannes Motlhaping headed wide from close range.
Tignyemb pulled off a marvelous save on the half hour when he palmed a thunderous shot from Prince Olomu for a corner.
Celtic midfielder Patrick Malokase was wide when he had the goal at his mercy in the 39th minute and then Malokase had a goal disallowed in the 45thminute as Celtic pushed for the equaliser after going behind to that tremendous Vilakazi strike in the 43rd minute.
The goal looked good as Malokase was in an onside position when the ball was played and Mabuza and his assistant got that decision wrong.
It took Celtic only eight minutes after the restart to get back on level terms when Olomu blasted home from inside the Arrows penalty area in the 53rd minute to notch his 13th goal of the season and make it 1-1.
Celtic sensing blood piled on the pressure and it was Malokase who made up for his earlier misses who slotted home thanks to an assist by Oerson to make it 2-1 in the 59th minute.
With both sides tiring in the heavy conditions it was Arrows who found that extra energy when Musona headed home the equaliser in the 86th minute from a great cross from Njabulo Manqana.
