Both Swallows FC and Cape Town City will be looking for their first win in the DStv Premiership when the two teams square off at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening.
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The Dube Birds come into this fixture off the back of a narrow 1-0 defeat to Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon through a solitary goal by debutant Bienvenu Eva Nga.
Meanwhile, City will be looking to bounce back after they suffered a 2-0 defeat to defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns through goals from Aubrey Modiba and Themba Zwane at the DHL Stadium on Friday evening.
The result sees Swallows occupy 14th place on the table with no points, while the Citizens are below them in 5th place with zero points after the season’s opening match.
“I’m disappointed with the result. I thought in the first half we knew they were gonna put us under a lot of pressure. They looked to apply a high-press but we struggled to get out of that press,” Tinkler said after the game.
“You know, we didn’t control the ball well enough in the first half. We gave a lot of ball away to them so they had a lot of possession but I thought defensively we obviously dealt with them and there were obviously one or two scares.
“But the ball control in the first half, our ball speed was simply not good enough. Yet, I thought we still had the two best chances in the first half – [Thabo] Nodada and then the young boy Luke [Daniels].
“So, we spoke about rectifying that at halftime but still we struggled today on the surface. I think both teams, I think the surface itself is very, very slippery.
“So, the accuracy of the passing today was not great and then we knew when you play against a team like Sundowns quality and give away a set-piece outside the box- they got a lot of quality to punish you and they did- you know Modiba with a fantastic free-kick and they go 1-0 up.
“And then you chasing and then you concede another one not even three or four minutes later then the game becomes difficult.
“But I’m very, very proud of the back-four like I said. I thought they had done quite well today. You know, we would obviously like to see Tara coming back, Fasika, Thami and then we will be a little bit stronger in that area you know.
“Thato back in the midfield. I thought when I moved him in there, we started to regain possession of the ball a lot more and started having a certain dominance in the game. Creating two or three chances late on to come back 2-1 you know.
“But overall, I think we deserved to collect all three points today but we fight on and go on to the next game.”
When the two sides met in the DStv Premiership last campaign, City came out on top after taking four points from a possible six following their goalless draw against Swallows in the first leg before clinching a 2-1 victory in the return leg.
Dylan Kerr will have a fully fit squad for their next game with the exception of Virgil Vries, who continues to be sidelined through injury, while Eric Tinkler will have his entire squad fit and ready for their clash against the Dube Birds.
Keletso Makgalwa will be hoping to rediscover his form this campaign and produce the same performance he did during his time at Mamelodi Sundowns following a below-par performance for Swallows last season, which saw him score and assist one goal in 22 league appearances.
Mduduzi Mdantsane will be looking to build on his first appearance for City which saw him feature for 64 minutes in the defeat to Sundowns as he looks to reproduce the same form which saw him finish as City’s top scorer last season with 10 goals in 31 appearances across all competitions.
Swallows FC Form This Season:
L
Cpe Town City For This Season:
L