Mwape Musonda’s pressing and probing paid dividends as he scored the only goal to give Swallows a rare away win in the DStv Premiership and keep their survival hopes alive.
Durban – Swallows FC eased their relegation worries with a scrappy 1-0 win over Sekhukhune United at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday night. The win was only the second away triumph of the season for Dylan Kerr’s side.
Mwape Musonda’s pressing and probing paid dividends as he opened the scoring, giving Swallows the lead in the 50th minute with a neat finish from close range.
Both sides created opportunities in the opening 10 minutes of the game though neither showed killer instinct in front of goal.
Roderick Kabwe whipped in a ball into the Swallows area after 14 minutes but the Dube Birds managed to clear away.
Heading into the game, Swallows averaged 0.5 goals per game which is simply unacceptable for a side that wants to be competitive at Premiership level. Their lack of confidence in front of goal was evident as their attackers failed to carve out many promising opportunities.
Yagan Sasman was a pillar of strength for the Swallows defence throughout the game and produced a fine piece of defending in the dying minutes of the game to deny Evans Rusike from having a clear cut opportunity in front of goal.
Fawaaz Basadien whipped in a poor free kick by the 37th minute which was a good symbolic representation of Swallows attacking play as Sekhukhune goalkeeper Toaster Nsabata was not really tested.
Dube Birds goalkeeper Thela Thela was wide awake in the first half, staying alert in his box to ensure that Swallows did not concede any sloppy goals. The Sekhukhune attackers were also lethargic in the first half.
Musonda did look to press and probe the opposition goal territory for Swallows but simply did not receive sufficient support and service from team-mates.
— SwallowsFC (@Moroka_Swallows) February 27, 2022
After Sekhukhune were struggling to penetrate the away side’s defence, Yusuf Maart struck a well-hit long range shot on target after 77 minutes. His shot forced a fine save out of Thela.
A few minutes later, Swallows substitute Ruzaigh Gamildien forced an acrobatic diving save out of Nsabata with his accurate header from a cross.
There is little doubt that the result will be of major frustration to Sekhukhune especially as they had recorded a convincing win over Baroka FC just six days earlier.
Sekhukhune will next travel to Cape Town to play against Cape Town City next Saturday while Swallows will next be in action away to Royal AM in Durban next Sunday.
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