Fielies inspires CT City to Royal AM win

Taariq Fielies © Backpagepix

Cape Town City secured a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Royal AM in the DStv Premiership match at the Chatsworth Stadium on Wednesday night.

                                               
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The win took the Citizens to fourth place on the league standings, while Thwihli Thwahla remained 15th on the table two matches into the 2021/22 season. 

The Citizens threatened first just three minutes into the game when Craig Martin unleashed a powerful shot across goal, with goalkeeper Hugo Nyame rooted to the ground.

However, it was Thwihli Thwahla who broke the deadlock when Ndumiso Mabena scored to hand Royal a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute after the hosts were awarded a free-kick near the box.

Having replaced Sipho Chaine between the stricks for Royal, Nyame was called into action six minutes before the half-hour mark and he denied Abdul Ajagun with a decent save.

Thwihli Thwahla were sitting deep and playing on the counter which allowed the Citizens to dominate possession as the visitors looked to level matters.

The score was 1-0 to Royal at the interval with the hosts having contained City in the first stanza. 

It took just seven minutes for the Citizens to level matters after the restart as Mduduzi Mdantsane scored from the edge of the box to make it 1-1 after a brilliant solo run by Thamsanqa Mkhize.

The visitors did not take their foot off the pedal after restoring parity and they managed to take the lead for the first time when Taariq Fielies scored with a header to hand City a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute.

Royal came very close to leveling matters in the 68th minute when Mabena's free-kick hit the post and Nyame made a fantastic save from the rebound, denying Martin. 

The introduction of Mpho Makola with 12 minutes left on the clock helped the Citizens keep possession, with the experienced ball-playing midfielder seeing a lot of the ball in the middle of the park.

Ultimately, the match ended in a 2-1 win in favour of City, who stood firm at the back in the dying minutes of the game. 

Royal (1) 1 (Mabena 11')
City (0) 2 (Mdantsane 52', Fielies 57')

ROYAL AM: Nyame, Mkhize, Rikhotso, Lingwati, Mereko, Mashikinya, Phalane, Mashiane, Mahlasela, Pelembe, Mabena.

CAPE TOWN CITY: Marues, Mkhize, Mobara, Mdantsane, Ralani (Mayo 78), Fielies, Mashego, Mokeke (Mokhouane 72'), Ajagun (Fasika 78'), Martin (Makola 78'), Mapfumo.