Chungwa on target for City

Zimbabwean Dominic Chungwa scored on his debut for South Africa Absa Premiership side Polokwane City in the 1-1 draw with Orlando Pirates on Saturday night.The former CAPS United forward moved to Polokwane at the start of this month after scoring 17 goals to win the Zimbabwe Golden Boot last year.

Chungwa opened his account for Rise and Shine in the 18th minute with a sharp volley from inside the box after Pirates had failed to clear a corner kick.

The shot gave the Sea Robbers goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane no chance.

On the half-hour mark, Mabokgwane was tested from a distance by Rodney Ramagalela from miles away, but the net minder swallowed the long range effort with ease.

In their response, Pirates’ Thabiso Kutumela broke free and burst in behind the Rise and Shine defence, but the attacker could not beat George Chigova who made a good save in the 43rd minute.

Polokwane went to the tunnel leading 1-0.

The second half saw the Buccaneers changing gears as they upped the pace of the match, yet their decision making left a lot to be desired.

However, it was Mabokgwane who was called on to make a save in the 72nd minute when he collected Muhammad Nsulumba’s shot from range.

The Soweto giants were running out of time in the last 10 minutes and their crosses failed to reach the intended recipients in the box.

Sredojevic introduced Lyle Foster, Thembinkosi Lorch and Ayanda Nkosi in aim to exert more pressure on Rise and Shine’s defence.

Resulting from the changes, Foster equalised in the 86th minute when he pounced on a ball in the box to beat Chigova with a powerful effort that rattled the roof of the net, 1-1.

Polokwane City coach Bernard Molekwa felt his side lacked concentration in the last minutes allowing Pirates to find the equaliser.

“The gameplay for us worked well. We had a better game in terms of controlling it,” Molekwa said.

“The worrying factor for me is that I warned the players about concentration. I told them ‘You have to concentrate from the first whistle until the last whistle.’ At half-time, I told them ‘Pirates obviously are one goal down. Obviously, they are going to throw attackers forward’.”

Pirates coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic admitted that his side’s complacency cost them the two points.

“Every time you play a big match, you are using your tank of emotions and it’s very hard to focus on the next match. We were thinking that that match would be won itself,” Micho said.

“It was not. It was a very tough match. This is the team that has two times beaten Sundowns. This is a team that is very competitive in the league and we have paid that price,” he told SuperSport TV after the game.

“I want to believe that we have been a bit complacent and we needed to work harder and to dig deeper in order to win.” DailyNews