Absa Premiership

Relegation battle hots up

2018-03-04 10:45

Johannesburg - Ajax Cape Town’s victory over SuperSport United has made the relegation dogfight even more interesting.

The Urban Warriors have now dragged United, Polokwane City, Bloemfontein Celtic and Golden Arrows into the battle for survival.

For a long time, the race to avoid the drop seemed to be between Ajax and Platinum Stars. Not any more, with five more sides in danger of going down to the National First Division.

From Sunday afternoon onwards, it will be the survival of the fittest when City host Arrows at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium.

City, who have now dropped to the 15th spot following Ajax’s victory, will be hoping to use their two games in hand to overtake the Cape side and move into safety.

But Rise and Shine have not been shining lately, with the last victory coming back in January - over Mamelodi Sundowns. Since then, they have drawn five games and lost one.

They will be hoping that Rodney Ramagalela finds his scoring form again after registering his first goal since January.

After starting the season on a positive note, the wheels seem to have come off for novice coach Bernard Molekwa, who has failed to inspire confidence lately. But a victory over Arrows would go a long way in their fight for survival. City are seven points from the magic benchmark of 30, which guarantees safety. They could take a giant step towards that with victories in their next few games.

Arrows are not in a better position either, after registering only their second win last weekend. Coach Clinton Larsen has been going through a rough patch and will be hoping last weekend’s win was the turning point.

Arrows will fancy their chances when looking at City’s struggles in front of goals.

Another relegation battle is set for Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium, where Celtic welcome Ajax.

After a convincing win over United, the Cape side will be hoping to continue where they left off on Wednesday.

Muhsin Ertugral’s side should be on a high going into the game, knowing that another good showing will take them closer to safety.

Celtic have now gone six games without a win and pressure is mounting on coach Veselin Jelušic to steer them to safety.

Their problem has been at the back, where they have struggled to keep clean sheets, although they managed one against Kaizer Chiefs last weekend.

Phunya Sele Sele, who have a game in hand against Polokwane City, can jump into the top-eight bracket with victories over Ajax and Polokwane.

But it will take more than guts and determination to achieve that.

Read more on:    absa premiership  |  soccer
NEXT ON SPORT24X

What To Read Next

 

Read News24’s Comments Policy

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Comment on this story
0 comments
Add your comment
Comment 0 characters remaining
Live Video Streaming
Video Highlights

Fixtures
Sunday, 04 March 2018
Bloemfontein Celtic v Ajax Cape Town, Dr Molemela Stadium 15:30
Polokwane City v Golden Arrows, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium 15:30
Wednesday, 07 March 2018
Bloemfontein Celtic v Polokwane City, Dr Molemela Stadium 19:30
Friday, 16 March 2018
Maritzburg United v Polokwane City, Harry Gwala Stadium 20:00
Logs
Team P W PTS
Previous Results

Date Home Team Result Away Team
Vote

Do you think SAFA made the right choice in appointing Stuart Baxter as head coach of Bafana Bafana?

Men
Women
Love 2 Meet
English Premiership flutter

Take Sport24's "expert" tips at your peril...

Featured

The 2017/18 Absa Premiership season is under way. Can Bidvest Wits defend their title? Will Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates emerge victorious? Or will the bookies' favourites, Mamelodi Sundowns, taste success for a record eighth time? Stay glued to Sport24 to find out!

Latest blogs
 

Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter

Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page

WIN Enter and win with Sport24!

BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry

RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.

 
There are new stories on the homepage. Click here to see them.