Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler says his team threw away two log points in their PSL Premiership season-opener against Royal AM at Harry Gwala Stadium on Saturday.
Facing a Royal AM team that included owner Shawn Mkhize’s son Andile Mpisane, who doubles up as attacking midfielder and chairman, City were off to the perfect start when 22-year-old Namibian debutant Prins Tjiueza ran onto a through ball from 21-year-old Jaeden Rhodes to make it 1-0 in the eighth minute.
City did most of the play early on and had a golden opportunity to double their lead in the 15th minute, but despite finding himself with a decent amount of space in the box Darwin Gonzalez couldn’t hit the target.
They had another decent chance one minute before half-time when Rhodes picked out Gonzalez with a cheeky cross, but the Venezuelan’s volley unfortunately smashed into the upright.
The Citizens, though, would have felt that this was their day at the break and probably should have enjoyed a bigger buffer than the 1-0 lead they had.
Royal AM upped the ante after the break and had a good chance to level matters in the 60th minute, but City keeper Darren Keet did well to keep them out.
Still, they continued to threaten and eventually grabbed a share of the spoils when replacement Motebang Sera beat City defender Keanu Cupido to a cross and curled the ball around Keet.
A disappointed Tinkler says of the result: “It was definitely a game of two halves. We were in control during the opening phases, but we became too casual and ended up throwing away two points – we have to be better.”
#MotsepeFoundationChampionship - RESULTS:
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) September 14, 2024
Casric Stars, Orbit College, Baroka and Kruger United secure maximum points in today's matches. pic.twitter.com/pVuIu0YsrF