Wounded City and Arrows target winning restart

Following defeats in their most recent Betway Premiership assignments, Cape Town City and Golden Arrows will hope to return to the winning column when they do battle at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Kick-off is at 7:30pm (CAT, GMT+2)

CURRENT FORM

City, who remain under the tutelage of temporary coach Mushin Ertugral, suffered a 2-0 defeat against TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium this past weekend.

The defeat was recorded off the back of a 2-1 win against Richards Bay, however, the Cape side’s inconsistent form continued in their attempt to string consecutive victories together.

With three wins and two defeats in their last five league encounters, City currently occupy seventh position on the log, one point behind their upcoming opponents.

Golden Arrows, on the other hand, were on the end of 4-0 drubbing against Mamelodi Sundowns this past Sunday and extended their winless streak to two matches in the league.

Abafana Bes’thende last tasted victory on the 12th of January, where they bagged a 1-0 win against Kaizer Chiefs at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

As it stands, Arrows are in eighth place on the table.

WHAT WAS SAID

Speaking after his side’s defeat to the Rockets, Ertugral expressed that his side suffered in midfield and panicked under Galaxy’s pressure.

“We’re losing balls in areas with one-touch plays. It’s something that should never happen, especially when making final-third entries”

“I think it was totally against the run of play when Galaxy were awarded the corner from which they scored. We panicked and the ball should have been cleared from the box. Instead, it dropped at the feet of a Galaxy player.”

Arrows co-coach Musa Bilankulu meanwhile felt that his side could have earned a result against Sundowns last time out, given the amount of chances created throughout the match.

"I felt that we stuck to the game plan in the first half, but just in the critical face in the first half, we conceded that goal and that was the turning point of the game," Bilankulu said.

"If you go to halftime break in a goalless draw you have an edge because our game plan was to consolidate the midfield in the first half.

"I still believe that after they scored, we created some chances as well and I thought we should have got a penalty, but that's the story of the day."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cape Town City: Amadou Soukouna – With three league goals to his name so far this season, the Frenchman is yet to hit the target with regularity at City. However, given Arrows’ defensive frailties of late, the 32-year-old could look to increase his league tally on Wednesday evening.

Golden Arrows: Nduduzo Sibiya – Despite their 4-0 loss to Downs, Sibiya was a livewire for Arrows throughout the match. With City often looking to affect the game high up the pitch, Sibiya could cause damage in and behind the Citizen’s backline.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Last five league results

2022/23 Golden Arrows 1-1 Cape Town City

2022/23 Cape Town City 0-0 Golden Arrows

2023/24 Golden Arrows 0-1 Cape Town City

2023/24 Cape Town City 1-1 Golden Arrows

2024/25 Golden Arrows 3-2 Cape Town City