PORT ELIZABETH, SEPTEMBER 11 (ANA) – Chippa United and Mamelodi Sundowns played to a goalless draw in the first leg of their MTN8 semi-final cup tie at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The teams will contest the second leg next weekend when Sundowns are the hosts.
Sundowns, who are in the midst of a congested fixture list due to their African commitments in the Champions League, started off brightly with a few smart attacks at goal.
Brazilians’ kingpin Khama Billiat released attacking midfielder Percy Tau on goal in the fifth minute, but the Sundowns man was penalised for straying offside.
Sundowns were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position in the 15th minute after a foul on the edge of the box. Billiat delivered the free kick, but it just evaded defender Wayne Arendse’s head in the penalty area.
Billiat was causing the home side all sorts of strife in the attacking third of the field. The Zimbabwean hitman had a shot at goal in the 22nd minute, but Chippa goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi dropped down smartly to gather the shot.
Billiat delivered another dangerous free kick into the Chippa penalty area in the 38th minute, but unfortunately for Sundowns fans Brazilian Ricardo Nascimento headed his effort wide.
Chippa were a lot better in the second half and started to string some passes together. Their midfield enforcer Buyani Sali had the first attempt on goal in the second stanza, but his shot sailed wide of the target in the 46th minute.
Seven minutes later Chippa midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch tried his luck with a shot from the edge of the Sundowns area, but it was deflected wide following neat build-up by the home side.
Sundowns’ Yannick Zakri then unleashed a powerful shot of his own a few minutes later. However, his attempt also sailed wide.
Chippa had the best chance of the second half in the 75th minute when Lorch cut in from the left flank, before forcing Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Onyango into a fine save from 25-yards out.
It was end-to-end stuff in the last 10 minutes of the first leg, but, in the end, neither team could break the deadlock. – African News Agency (ANA
