Morgan Gould © Backpagepix

SuperSport United regained second place in the Absa Premiership when they defeated Lamontville Golden Arrows 2-1 at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday night.

Morgan Gould’s opener was cancelled out by a strike from Katlego Mashego, while substitute Ashley Hartog scored the winner in a match which saw both sides finishing with ten men.

United applied pressure from the start through set-pieces with Sameehg Doutie looking to pick out the likes of Glen Salmon and Mabhuti Khenyeza.

The visitors eventually opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Gould met a Sameehg Doutie corner with a powerful header, placing the ball beyond Andre Petim at the far post, 1-0.

Five minutes later Mabhuti Khenyeza received a square pass from Atusaye Nyondo and did well to turn and shoot, but his effort went wide of the target.

Arrows then started to string passes together with Mzivukile Tom making runs on the left flank but the final crosses did not reach the forwards.

United then lost the ball in the middle of the park and in the 26th minute allowed Arrows to spark a counter-attack which saw Elrio Van Heerden playing a through-pass for Mashego.

The former SuperSport United striker did well to keep Gould at bay before firing a low shot past the approaching Ronwen Williams, 1-1.

The home side then started playing with confidence and came close to doubling the lead in the 38th minute when Thamsanqa Gabuza connected with a cross from Sibusiso Hadebe, but his header went just wide of the post.

Then Arrows won a free-kick near the right corner of the box in the 41st minute; Hadebe went for the target but his powerful left-footed strike went wide at the far post, leaving the sides tied at 1-1 at the break.

The second half got off to a slow start with both sides looking to build from the back, but it was Muhsin Ertugral’s side who had the first chance in the 52nd minute when a corner was flicked towards Thanduyise Khuboni, but his header went over the crossbar.

Nine minutes later Mashego came close to grabbing his second goal of the match when he fired a powerful overhead volley on target, but Williams was on hand to push the ball wide for a corner.

Gavin Hunt made his first substitution in the 58th minute, bringing on Ashley Hartog in the place of Mabhuti Khenyeza, and the move paid off seven minutes later when the substitute out-jumped the Arrows defenders to head the ball into the back of the net, 2-1.

Arrows tried to push for the equalizer but found it hard to get past the organised United defence, but they were given a lifeline in the 80th minute when United were reduced to ten men as Sameehg Doutie was sent off for a second bookable offence.

However, Arrows failed to capitalise on their advantage and eventually found themselves with one man less in the 86th minute when goal scorer Mashego was given his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card as well.

United had a penalty appeal turned down in the 88th minute when Tebogo Langerman went down inside the box, but the referee booked the winger for assimilation instead.

Thamsanqa Gabuza had the last chance to salvage a point for Abafana Bes’thende a minute later with a volleyed shot on the edge of the area, but he failed to keep his shot down and his shot flew over the bar.

Lamontville Golden Arrows (1) 1 (Mashego 26’)

Lamontville Golden Arrows: Petim,Tom , Bilankulu, Zwane, Johannes, Ngobeni, Van Heerden (Shange 70’), Khuboni, Mashego, Gabuza, Hadebe (Sheppard 55’)

SuperSport United: Williams, Gyimah, Kekana , Gould, Doutie, Cale, Arwuah, Salmon, Khenyeza (Hartog 58’), Langerman , Nyondo (Zuma 63’)