Bafana held to another draw by Botswana in Cosafa Cup

A third goalless draw in four Group B matches came to a close as Bafana Bafana and Botswana shared the spoils in their Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup clash at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium in KwaZakhele on Saturday afternoon. 

The draw means that only the host nation and Mozambique have found the back of the net while no team has registered a victory yet in the competition after the Mozambique and Eswatini clash also ended goalless earlier in the day. 

Bafana began the match similarly to how they did in their 1-1 draw against Mozambique on Wednesday, pushing their opponents back as they looked to play on the front foot. . 

The home side would have the first sight at goal when a free kick by Malebogo Modise was met by the rising Thabang Matuludi, who narrowly missed the target as he rose above the Botswana defence. 

Botswana would have a chance of their own shortly after when midfielder Olebogeng Ramotse sent his free kick over the crossbar with Bafana goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto unmoved by the attempt.

With both teams continuing to go in search of chances, the score remained goalless after the opening 25 minutes. 

Bafana’s constant pressure resulted in a fourth corner kick, but another poor connection saw the ball fly harmlessly behind off the head of Matuludi.

Botswana made a rare foray into Bafana Bafana attacking third, first through a corner which was dealt with by the defence, before Tlamelo Kolagano blazed his shot high. 

Helman Mkhalele’s men dominated possession for a majority of the half with 58% possession, taking six shots, of which four were on target as the half drew to a close. 

Mkhalele brought on Mfundo Thikazi to replace Devon Titus at half time, with the aim of injecting some pace into his front line. 

Thabang Sibanyoni had another opportunity to break the deadlock when he met a ball in by skipper Rushwin Dortley, but his header flew wide of the mark. 

Mkhalele made two more changes in bringing on Antonio van Wyk and Jaedin Rhodes in place of Ethan Brookes and Sinoxolo Kwayiba while the visitors replaced Tawana Mbakile with Lizo Skwayiya. 

There was still nothing to choose between the sides as Mkhalele had one last roll of the dice when he brought on Ashley Cupido and Athenkosi Mcaba in place of Thabang Sibanyoni and Brendon Moloisane with just over five minutes left to play. 

With six minutes of time added on, there was still an opportunity for someone to snatch victory, however, neither side troubled the opposition goalkeeper as the match concluded with honours even.