Chippa add to Maritzburg's woes

Cape Town - Chippa United defeated fellow relegation battlers Maritzburg United 2-0 in an Absa Premiership match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.

The victory saw the Chill Boys remain 15th in the league standings, while the Team of Choice remained 16th on the table.

The hosts started the match brightly and they threatened first through Thabo Rakhale 11 minutes into the encounter.

Veteran midfielder Kurt Lentjies played in the former Orlando Pirates winger, who volleyed the ball wide of the target as Maritzburg survived a scare.

The best chance of the first half fell to new Maritzburg striker Thabiso Kutumela, who recently joined the club from Pirates, in the 23rd minute.

Eswatini international Justice Figueredo found Kutumela with a delightful cross at the far post, but somehow the latter fluffed his effort from six-yards out.

The last opportunity of the first half fell to Rakhale seven minutes before half-time after being set-up by Lentjies, but the former missed the target.

The score was 0-0 at half-time.

The Chilli Boys dominated the opening stages of the second half and they deservedly broke the deadlock through Tebogo Tlolane.

The left-footed player scored his second goal in as many league matches from 30-yards out to make it 1-0 to Chippa.

The hosts continued to attack after opening the scoring and they managed to double their lead after the Team of Choice defence was exposed.

Long-serving Chippa player Andile Mbenyane punished the Maritzburg backline to make it 2-0 to the hosts - beating goalkeeper Richard Ofori.

Both teams launched late attacks and Kutumela missed the target, before Rakhale's shot was well-saved by Ghana international Ofori.

Ultimately, the game ended in a 2-0 victory in favour of Chippa, who secured their maiden win in 2019.