Tuesday evening in Cape Town, Cape Town City conceded an equalizer in the 84th minute as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Golden Arrows.
The Citizens missed out on a chance to crack the top eight for the first time this season. A victory for Eric Tinkler’s squad would have moved them over seventh-placed Abafana Bes’thende in the DStv Premiership table.
Kajally Drammeh, a Gambian international, scored his first goal for the club in the 27th minute after the visitors had started the game the more promising of the two teams.
In the opening period, both teams held almost 50 percent of the ball possession.
Tinkler believes that his squad was the superior team for the majority of the match, but their inability to retain control during important moments cost them three crucial points.
“There were 10 minutes of insanity in this game. I think we performed quite well in the first half. We were aware of their offensive threats with (Divine) Lunga and (Pule) Mmodi on their left flank, and I believe we dealt with them effectively,” Tinkler said after the game.
“We provided numerous opportunities, yet we say the same things week after week. We had opportunities to take the lead, to double our lead, and even to create opportunities when we weren’t playing well, but we failed to capitalize on them.
He then said, “We just experienced 10 minutes of insanity.” We needed to manage the game better in order to prevent surrendering a goal from a set-piece, but we failed to do so and conceded from a corner kick.
“I’m dissatisfied with the performance of the players because we were so good in the first half.”
Following a dismal start to the new season in which they suffered three consecutive defeats, leaving them at the bottom of the standings after three games, the Cape Town team seemed to have turned their fortunes around.
Since then, Tinkler’s side have gone six games without a loss in the league and eight in all competitions, and they’ll be looking to continue that streak when they face their continental opponent this weekend.
Saturday at 5:30 p.m., City will host Angolan powerhouses Petro de Luanda in the opening leg of second round qualification for the CAF Champions League.