Africa-Press – Eswatini. Mbabane Highlanders scored in both halves to beat Denver Sundowns 2-0 in an MTN Premier League match played here yesterday.
The capital city giants eventually broke the winless curse they had for the past two weeks, as they suffered defeats at the hands of Illovo and Royal Leopard, respectively. They are up to sixth position on the charts and are now keeping the leading pack in sight, as they are four adrift of the top spot. The sides failed to make meaningful chances at goal. There were two chances that each of the clubs tried, but they were off-target and never threatened the goalkeepers.
It was Inkunzi emnyama, who broke the deadlock at the half-hour mark, through defender Vusumuzi Vilakati. The national team Sihlangu defender nodded home a corner delivered by midfield maestro Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze. Vilakati’s goal was the only one for this half as referee Thulani Sibandze signalled for a breather. Upon the start of the second stanza, Ikappa Kappa gaffer Milton Dlamini made double substitutions as he introduced the pair of Bandile Zwane and Njabulo Ncongwane in the spaces of Tony Bronkinos and Lethukukhanya Dlamini. On the other hand, Highlanders Coach Dumsani ‘DU’ Makhanya rested Musa Dlamini and Noko Malekana for Menzi Sithole and Njabulo ‘Koko’ Gama, respectively.
tonic
The changes seemed to be the right tonic for Makhanya, as Sithole added the second goal for his side six minutes from the hour mark. He easily tapped for goal at close range with a pass from Man of the Match Banele Sikhondze. Sithole was once again back in search of a brace as his long drive outside the box narrowly missed the target. The hosts’ Siphamandla ‘24 Reasons’ Maseko unleashed a cracker outside the danger zone, which never troubled Highlanders goalkeeper Khanyakwenzwe Shabalala, as he calmly collected it. The Milton Dlamini-led side should have scored a consolation goal after they were awarded a penalty in the 64th minute after defender Mandla ‘Mshana’ Palma handled the ball inside the box. Captain Jimoh Moses took the responsibility, but his effort was cleared for a fruitless corner by Shabalala. Referee Sibandze blew his final whistle as the ‘Bull’ bagged all the points and ended their two-game-winless run. The black and white capital city giants climbed to the sixth spot. On the other hand, this was Sundowns’ second defeat in the campaign as they were beaten 5-0 by Green Mamba in the other loss. The defeat saw them moving down the pack to position nine from five.
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