Share

Mthembu leads Celtic to win

Johannesburg - A brace from Siphelele Mthembu in the first half helped Celtic to a 4-1 win over BidVest Wits in an Absa Premiership match at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The other two goals for Celtic came from the boots of Danny Venter and an own goal by Derrick Spencer while Sifiso Vilakazi scored a late penalty for Wits.

The win for the side from Bloemfontein also guarantees that they will finish no lower than fifth in the league.

Although the first 45 minutes saw Celtic find the back of the net three times they did not have it all their own way; only some sloppy defending and some poor passing by the home side saw them trailing at the break.

Wits did control the majority of the possession but they struggled to find a decent final pass that would penetrate a rather stubborn defence. For the visitors their chances in front of goal were few and far between, but when they did get an opening they made no mistake, hence the 3-0 scoreline at half time.

The game started in the best fashion for Celtic as they found the opening goal as early as the ninth minute when Lennox Bacela broke the off-side trap down the right flank.

He proceeded to drive towards the goal before supplying a pin-point pass across the face of goal to find an unmarked Siphelele Mthembu. The Celtic striker made no mistake from only a couple of yards out, side footing the ball into an empty net, 1-0.

After that Wits really came into the game and began dictating the flow of the match, but they could not find the right pass to get behind the Phunya Sele Sele defence. Their only real chance on goal was a 25-yard free-kick in the 22nd minute.

Thando Mngomeni curled the ball around the defensive wall, but the Celtic keeper, Patrick Tignyemb, was at his best with a fine save diving full stretch to tip the effort over the cross-bar.

From the resulting corner Derrick Spencer looked to have scored, but the goal was disallowed because the ball appeared to go out of play from the corner-kick.

Then in the 35th minute as Wits looked to be controlling the game, another slip up on the left side of their defence saw them go a second goal behind.

Danny Venter attacked down the right wing and produced another pass to Mthembu inside the box. This time the Phunya Sele Sele striker had a bit more to do, but still he powerfully drove the ball home into the top right hand of the corner from 12-yards out, 2-0.

Matters were compounded for the Clever Boys five minutes later when Celtic found their third goal. This time a swift passing movement down the left saw Celtic work their way into the box before Clifford Mulenga let fly with an effort from about 14-yards out.

Darren Keet, however, was up to the challenge with a good save, but he palmed the ball straight into the path of Danny Venter who side footed the ball into another empty net, 3-0.

The second half saw Wits on the all out attack in search of pulling some goals back, but that resulted in them leaving themselves exposed at the back and they were duly punished in the 60th minute when Celtic went four nil up.

In a quick counter-attack, the Phunya Sele Sele broke down the left flank and as the cross came into the box, Wits’ defender Derrick Spencer unfortunately turned the ball into the back of his own net from only a couple of yards out, 4-0.

Wits, though, did find some consolation in the 72nd minute when the referee awarded them a penalty kick after he adjudged Thabo Nthethe to have pulled down Sifiso Vilakazi inside the box. Vilakazi took the penalty himself and made no mistake, 4-1.

That is the way the game ended as the win guaranteed Celtic a place in the top five of the Absa Premiership.


We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
67% - 945 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
33% - 463 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE