Maritzburg remain winless

Maritzburg United's winless run continued when they lost their fourth Absa Premiership match 3-2 to Free State Stars.

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Maritzburg – Maritzburg United's winless run continued when they lost their fourth Absa Premiership match 3-2 to Free State Stars on Tuesday night at Harry Gwala Stadium.

Three second-half goals by Danny Venter, Andrea Fileccia and a late strike by Robert Sankara were enough to hand coach Ernst Middendorp his second successive victory as they move to the eighth spot on the log with six points.

On the other hand, the hosts remain rooted at the bottom of the log with one point from five matches.

The encounter comes on the back of the 'Team of Choice' having parted ways with coach Mandla Ncikazi and his assistant Fadlu Davids being handed the reins. However, facing his ex-boss in Ernst Middendorp, Davids failed to produce the goods for the hosts.

In the 16th minute, Kurt Lentjies took a shot at goal aiming to break the deadlock, however, Daouda Diakite parried the ball away and three minutes later, the former Mamelodi Sundowns man tried another shot but the keeper stood firm.

The Bethlehem side made strides to get an early goal when Sankara unleashed a long range shot but he failed to hit the target. With no clear-cut chances, both sides went to the interval still level pegging.

The second stanza saw the hosts moving swiftly to find an opener through Evans Rusike but his header was above Diakite' posts and in the 62nd minute the hosts found the back of the net when Venter finished Bokang Thlone's cross.

Nevertheless, their celebration did not last long as the hosts received a penalty four minutes later when Themba Tshabalala was penalised for a handball and Lentjies made no mistake to convert from the spot.

With 10 minutes to go, midfielder Philani Zulu was penalised for a foul on Fileccia and the referee pointed to the spot, the Belgian scored to give the Free State side the lead.

Maritzburg had a chance to equalise in the 84th minute when Lentjies and Ashley Hartog could not communicate as they both left ball for each other but it was substitute Mohammed Anas who grabbed an equaliser when he scored with his right foot in the 90th minute.

The drama was not over yet until Sankara netted a fine goal, thanks to an assist by Moeketsi Sekola to claim the three points. - ANA