SuperSport United, Cape Town City new-look technical teams hold each other to a draw in debut

SuperSport United and Cape Town City’s new coaches failed to hit the ground running after holding each other to a draw at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday night.

This draw meant that SuperSport remained 15th on the Betway Premiership log with 22 points, two ahead of City, who have played two games more.

With the season in its final stretch, SuperSport and City find themselves flirting with relegation, with fewer than 10 games remaining. Given their poor run of form, it was unsurprising that both teams had new-look technical teams following the sackings of Gavin Hunt and Muhsin Ertugral.

The new men in charge—Andre Arendse for SuperSport on an interim basis and Diogo Peral for City—did not have an ideal start, as their sides played to a stalemate.

SuperSport will no doubt be the more disappointed side with the result, as they were at home and created the most scoring chances in a game played with caution.

Arendse will believe he can build on this point and grind out results that will not only steer SuperSport to safety but also strengthen his case for securing the job on a permanent basis.

After all, this is not the 57-year-old’s first stint as interim coach—he previously held the role when Kaitano Tembo was sacked in April 2022. He performed fairly well in that period, winning two games, drawing three, and losing one. However, he did not secure the job permanently, as the club opted to bring in the experienced Hunt.

Should Arendse impress in this season’s audition, the club may strongly consider appointing him permanently, as he is now more qualified and experienced.

The players also seem to be responding well to him as the new man in charge. They started slowly but grew in confidence as the game progressed.

They failed to take the lead in the first half only because loanee Lebohang Maboe missed two chances from Christian Saile’s crosses from the flank.

Maboe nearly made up for his earlier misses in the second half when he connected well with a ball played behind City’s defence, only for his low shot to be parried to safety by Darren Keet.

It was one-way traffic early in the second half, so much so that Ricardo Goss had little to do, as Darwin Gonzalez and Amadou Soukouna rarely troubled him.

Goss had to stay alert in the latter stages of the game, though, as Peral’s substitutions—most notably the introduction of the tricky Thulani Serero—kept Matsatsantsa’s defence on their toes.

Despite late pressure, Goss and Keet’s defensive units held firm until the final whistle. However, Siphesihle Ndlovu stood head and shoulders above the rest on the pitch.

Ndlovu was highly active in both attack and defence—one of the key figures Arendse will rely on to guide the team to safety in the coming games.