Chippa United and Polokwane City played to a goalless draw in their Absa Premiership match, played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday evening, with the visitors left wondering what they must do to get a league win these days.
The match contained few goal scoring opportunities, but many tough tackles, with Chippa’s midfield general Rhulani Manzini stretchered off and replaced early in the second half. Both goalkeepers in the form of Zimbabwean George Chigova and Nigerian Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa) were in full control when called on to clean up matters in their penalty areas.
Polokwane needed to look as far back as December 14, for their last win, a 1-0 triumph with the opponents being the very same Chippa, and since then 10 Premiership outings have seen them return 7 draws and 3 losses. In the past fortnight, there has been turmoil in the Polokwane camp, with Belgian coach Luc Eymael having departed at great speed to take over at Bloemfontein Celtic, with his former assistant, Bernard Modekwa, now in charge of the Limpopo side.
Polokwane play a quality passing game, but it is the ball in the back of the opposition’s goal net that counts. Modekwa will still feel that a Top 8 league finish is quite possible, as the side looks towards their next game – a home encounter against ever-improving Platinum Stars on April 19.
Things are not looking that rosy for the Chippa camp either, with the Eastern Cape side without a win in their last 8 league games (5 draws and 3 losses), and they now find themselves on 24 points from 23 games – just above the relegation zone tussle involving Bloemfontein Celtic, Ajax Cape Town, Free State Stars, Baroka and bottom-of-the-log Highlands Park.
Expect Chippa coach Dan Malesela to be putting in quite a bit of homework, as his side prepare for their next league encounter in the form of a tough away trip to face Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday. – African News Agency (ANA)
