Cape Town - It was a case of dropped points for both sides as Polokwane City and AmaZulu played out to a goalless draw at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
Neither side did enough to win this tie, and had to be content for a point as the reality of a potential relegation battle became a reality for both Polokwane and AmaZulu.
Sitting dangerously close to the relegation places, with Rise and Shine in 12, and Usuthu in 13th, both sides were gunning for what proved to be an illusive win.
While the away side last beat SuperSport United 2-0 before drawing with Bloemfontein Celtic last time out, City have not won in three games now, last beating Mamelodi Sundowns 3-2 before losing 2-1 to Kaizer Chiefs and drawing 1-1 with Orlando Pirates and SuperSport.
And with so much at stake, it was a slow start to this encounter on a very hot day in Polokwane with both sides content to stroke the ball around early on. The hosts initially sat back while looking to catch AmaZulu on the counter.
Rather than the game being punctuated by fierce tackle, set pieces and cautions, it was water-breaks that broke the flow of this tie.
Polokwane started to enjoy more of the possession as the half wore on but neither side was able to carve out much in the way of a goalscoring chance with Rodney Ramagalela and Wiseman Maluleke both off target ahead of the half-time whistle.
Camaldine Abraw was replaced by Rhulani Manzini at the break by AmaZulu as they looked for more attacking options up front.
And while both sides increased the tempo of the second half, there was little meaningful action ahead of a change on the hour mark for Polokwane as Thabiso Semenya replaced Thapelo Tshilo, as Puleng Tlolane came on for Walter Musona.
Even the introduction of Siyabonga Nomvete for the enforced substitution of a quickly injured Manzini could not affect the outcome of this game that ultimately ended all square and with a point apiece for both sides.