Two goals from Siphiwe Tshabalala were not enough to hand Kaizer Chiefs a win as they drew 2-2 against SuperSport United at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday evening.
The draw means Steve Komphela’s men remain placed at No 4 with 46 points and will now hope to to win their remaining four matches.
For the hosts, Mandla Masango netted in the first half and Aubrey Modiba made it 2-2 in the late stages of the contest.
The first 10 minutes saw both sides starting starting like a house on fire as they both battled for dominance in the heart of the park.
However, United kept Amakhosi under pressure as they pushed to find an early goal, but Clayton Daniels was denied by Tsepo Masilela on the left pole following a free header in the box.
Steve Komphela’s charges responded swiftly and Bernard Parker saw his shot coming off the upright and bouncing back to action in the 22th minute, with goalkeeper Riyaad Pieterse beaten.
A minute later, Tshabalala beat keeper Pieterse when he produced a clever curling chip into the roof of the net from the edge of the area to make it 1-0.
After 20 minutes, Pieterse was called to action to produce a fine save to deny Joseph Molangoane from close range after a perfect pass by Tshabalala from the right flank.
Two minutes later, Masango netted against his former team when he received a brilliant pass through Reneilwe Letsholonyane from the midfield, his well taken right footed curler went straight to keeper Bruce Bvuma’s far corner. 1-1.
As the encounter became a thriller towards the 35th minute, Tshabalala bagged his brace with a superb finish in the box as the skipper received a well-placed pass from right back Ramahlwe Mphahlele.
The high-paced affair ended 2-1 at the interval to Chiefs. Amakhosi continued with the same energy upon their return from the tunnel, yet there were no clear cut chances until the 65th minute.
Substitute William Twala came close to bagging their third goal as he unleashed a shot from a tight angle on the left flank, but saw his effort hitting the side of the net.
As the encounter approached the last 12 minutes, Molangoane missed a glorious opportunity to make it 3-1 as he saw his shot going wide from close range.
The last four minutes allowed Thuso Phala to dribble past Chiefs’ defence into the box from a counter attack, only to be denied by the onrushing Bvuma for a corner.
Substitute Modiba made a huge impact in the encounter as he found a late equaliser in the box to beat Bvuma as the ball deflected off his defender.
In the end, both sides shared the spoils and the draw means Kaitano Tembo’s side occupy the fifth spot with 41 points from 25 games in the league.
