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By Sibongiseni Gumbi

Football Writer


Chiefs held to a draw by resilient Leopards

It seemed both teams were content with getting at least a point out of the Absa Premiership match at Thohoyandou Stadium in Venda on Saturday afternoon where Kaizer Chiefs couldn’t get a third win in a row as Black Leopards came back from behind to eke out a draw.


A win would have stretched Amakhosi’s lead at the top of the Premiership standings to 12 points. The point earned away, however, leaves Ernst Middendorp’s side top 10 points ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns who play SuperSport United on Sunday afternoon.

For Lidoda Duvha, the point helped them jump over AmaZulu to 14t on the standings but they will still have to work harder to move away from the dangerous positions.

Chiefs got off to a dream start with Samir Nurkovic scoring his tenth goal of the season to give his team the lead just 11 minutes into the match.

They could have added a few more but a combination of good goalkeeping and excellent defending by Lidoda Duvha kept them away.

The home side managed to get their equaliser with Mogakolodi Ngele scoring with a stinging free-kick from just outside the box in the 31st minute. The Botswana international came close to a brace five minutes later after an enterprising attacking move by Lidoda Duvha ended with him inside the Amakhosi box with the ball at his feet. He, however, rushed his shot and Daniel Akpeyi pushed it away.

The second half was played at a high pace but neither team poised any real danger as there were no real goal scoring chances were created.

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