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Port Elizabeth - A goalless draw against Kaizer Chiefs in an Absa Premiership match on Tuesday night here at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium saw Maritzburg United end a three game losing streak.
A stubborn defensive performance by the Team of Choice saw them earn a well deserved point against an Amakhosi team who dominated proceedings for the majority of the match.
The first half started in a real positive vein and it looked like both teams would have a full go at each other in attack with very little concern for their defensive structures.
This made for a great opening ten minutes as the game flowed from end to end, but the players on the pitch must have received word from their respective managers as the game quickly tightened up in the middle of the park and the chances on goal quickly dried up.
In fact, after Thomas Sweswe’s early chance in the fifth minute the next decent chance of the match only came two minutes before the half-time break.
Sweswe, though, did have the first shot on goal when a loose ball fell to him from a corner-kick, but his close range shot on the left edge of six-yard box was well-saved by Shu-Aib Walters.
After that Chiefs played the better football and displayed some nice passing, but they lacked imagination in the final third and were unable to test Walters for the remainder of the half.
United definitely did most of the defending in the opening 45 minutes, and they did so quite impressively as they shut out the Chiefs attack time after time.
With the amount of possession Amakhosi had they should really have done a lot better in the first half.
In actual fact Lucky Baloyi should really have given Chiefs the lead going into the break when he had a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the 43rd minute.
George Lebese made a good run down the left flank and supplied a good low cross across the face of goal to find Baloyi unmarked at the back post with the Maritzburg keeper completely stranded, but the Amakhosi midfielder miscued his shot into a United defender instead of into an empty net.
The second 45 saw a reversal of fortunes as the Team of Choice had the better of the half, using Felix Obada in particular to cause the Chiefs defence problems down the right flank.
Three minutes into the half and Obada made his presence known when he beat two defenders down the right wing before he made his way into the box and fired a shot goalwards from ten-yards out. But his shot was straight at the keeper who made a relatively easy save.
In the 58th minute Obada was again at his tricks down the right and again he made his way into the box after getting the better of a couple of defenders, but this time his shot went way over the crossbar when he could easily have laid it off to an unmarked Price Olomu at the back post.
Finally, in the 72nd minute Obada unselfishly laid off a pass across the face of goal after yet another great individual run down the right. But this time his team-mate Morne Davids let him down as he fired over from close range when he should have scored.
That was the last chance of the half for United as Chiefs eventually took control of the half as they went in search of a winning goal. But they could not break down a resolute Maritzburg defence, who earned themselves a share of the spoils.
Score:
Maritzburg United (0) 0
Kaizer Chiefs (0) 0
Teams:
Maritzburg United: Walters; Evans, Hendricks, Diouf, Matuka, Obada, Booysen (Madondo 68’), Letjies, Sosibo (M Davids 72’), Sibisi, Olomu (F. Davids 85’)
Kaizer Chiefs: Bartman; Tau, Sweswe, Isaacs, Jambo, Yende, Baloyi (Dladla 74’), Nengomasha, Lebese (L. Khune 77’), Tshabalala, Parker
A stubborn defensive performance by the Team of Choice saw them earn a well deserved point against an Amakhosi team who dominated proceedings for the majority of the match.
The first half started in a real positive vein and it looked like both teams would have a full go at each other in attack with very little concern for their defensive structures.
This made for a great opening ten minutes as the game flowed from end to end, but the players on the pitch must have received word from their respective managers as the game quickly tightened up in the middle of the park and the chances on goal quickly dried up.
In fact, after Thomas Sweswe’s early chance in the fifth minute the next decent chance of the match only came two minutes before the half-time break.
Sweswe, though, did have the first shot on goal when a loose ball fell to him from a corner-kick, but his close range shot on the left edge of six-yard box was well-saved by Shu-Aib Walters.
After that Chiefs played the better football and displayed some nice passing, but they lacked imagination in the final third and were unable to test Walters for the remainder of the half.
United definitely did most of the defending in the opening 45 minutes, and they did so quite impressively as they shut out the Chiefs attack time after time.
With the amount of possession Amakhosi had they should really have done a lot better in the first half.
In actual fact Lucky Baloyi should really have given Chiefs the lead going into the break when he had a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the 43rd minute.
George Lebese made a good run down the left flank and supplied a good low cross across the face of goal to find Baloyi unmarked at the back post with the Maritzburg keeper completely stranded, but the Amakhosi midfielder miscued his shot into a United defender instead of into an empty net.
The second 45 saw a reversal of fortunes as the Team of Choice had the better of the half, using Felix Obada in particular to cause the Chiefs defence problems down the right flank.
Three minutes into the half and Obada made his presence known when he beat two defenders down the right wing before he made his way into the box and fired a shot goalwards from ten-yards out. But his shot was straight at the keeper who made a relatively easy save.
In the 58th minute Obada was again at his tricks down the right and again he made his way into the box after getting the better of a couple of defenders, but this time his shot went way over the crossbar when he could easily have laid it off to an unmarked Price Olomu at the back post.
Finally, in the 72nd minute Obada unselfishly laid off a pass across the face of goal after yet another great individual run down the right. But this time his team-mate Morne Davids let him down as he fired over from close range when he should have scored.
That was the last chance of the half for United as Chiefs eventually took control of the half as they went in search of a winning goal. But they could not break down a resolute Maritzburg defence, who earned themselves a share of the spoils.
Score:
Maritzburg United (0) 0
Kaizer Chiefs (0) 0
Teams:
Maritzburg United: Walters; Evans, Hendricks, Diouf, Matuka, Obada, Booysen (Madondo 68’), Letjies, Sosibo (M Davids 72’), Sibisi, Olomu (F. Davids 85’)
Kaizer Chiefs: Bartman; Tau, Sweswe, Isaacs, Jambo, Yende, Baloyi (Dladla 74’), Nengomasha, Lebese (L. Khune 77’), Tshabalala, Parker
