Ajax bounce back to defeat Celtic

 Aiden Jenniker’s last gasp goal saw Ajax Cape Town comeback from a goal down to record a 2-1 win over Bloemfontein Celtic in an Absa Premiership match at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Frank Mhango had put the visitors in the lead after an uneventful hour, but goals by Nathan Paulse and the full-back meant Ajax could leapfrog Celtic on the table.

Ajax had the more promising of the starts to the encounter, but it was Celtic who needed just seconds to create just two chances to test Anssi Jaakkola in goal.

The first arrived when some miscommunication in the Ajax defence left them vulnerable, forcing Jaakkola to react quickly in order to snap the ball away from Frank Mhango’s feet. The ball, however, landed up at Vuyani Ntanga, who shot from range, but it went straight down the middle.

As the game progressed, there was little goalmouth action to write home about and Ntanga again tried his luck from range in the 20^th minute. However, it sailed high of the frame.

Five minutes later Mhango, or Gabadinho as he is affectionately known, shot from range and it too went well wide. That opened up for Ajax to race up the field, but Dolly did the same thing with his strike.

The home side were forced into making an early substitution eight minutes before the break when Toriq Losper had to be replaced for Telinho due to injury.

It should have been 1-0 to Ajax straight after the restart when Lebogang Manyama drifted a ball through to Eleazar Rodgers, but instead of sliding it into the back of the net, the former Mamelodi Sundowns man toe-poked it wide.

Another injury enforced substitution had to be implemented by Ajax when Rodgers suffered a gash to his head in the 53^rd minute, seeing him replaced by Nathan Paulse.

Jaakkola pulled off a remarkable save six minutes later when he finger tipped Gabadinho’s shot from range over the goal, but there was nothing he could do about Ntanga’s goal in the 63^rd minute.

The striker broke through the Ajax backline to tap home a right-footed effort past the former Siena keeper to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Celtic’s lead only lasted six minutes, however, when Paulse made it 1-1 thanks to a well-worked run by Dolly. The midfielder gathered the ball on the halfway line before running up the park and slotting it through to the experienced striker, who had the simplest of tasks to finish it off.

Jaakkola pulled off another world class save to tip Ntanga’s right-footed strike over the bar, but it was Aiden Jenniker who had the last bite of the cherry when he whipped in a powerful left-footed strike which rattled the back of Tignyemb’s goal in the final minute of play, 2-1.

Ajax Cape Town: (0) 2 (Paulse 69’, Jenniker 89)

Bloemfontein Celtic: (0) 1 (Ntanga 63’)

Ajax Cape Town: Jaakkola, Hlatshwayo, Isaacs, Krjauklis, Jenniker, Alexander (Scott 83’), Mobara, Manyama, Dolly, Losper (Telinho 37’), Rodgers (Paulse 56’)

Bloemfontein Celtic: Tignyemb, Mahoa, Nthethe, Daniels, Buchanan, Lakay, Lamola, Letlabika, Ntanga, Nyatama, Mhango (Manzini 75’)

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