Sibiya doubles up as Arrows shoot down Birds

Golden Arrows (2) 4 Swallows FC (0) 0

NDUDUZO Sibiya scored a brace as Golden Arrows thumped Swallows FC 4-0 at the Princess Magogo Stadium yesterday afternoon.

Sibiya had things under way for the hosts early on as he won and converted a 13th minute penalty.

The winger manoeuvred his way into the Swallows box and was fouled by Yagan Sasman.

He dusted himself off and sent goalkeeper Thakasani Mbanjwa the wrong way for the lead.

A minute later the in-form Pule Mmodi doubled Arrows’ advantage, capitalising on a mistake by Mbanjwa to score his fourth goal of the 2022/2023 season.

He pounced on a poor attempted clearance and chipped the goalkeeper, becoming the first player to score in four consecutive matches in the club’s history. The visitors piled numbers forward but it was Arrows who found the next goal in the second half through Sibiya in the 66th minute.

The 28-year-old finished off a well orchestrated move as he fired from the edge of the box to score his second goal of the match.

Abafana Bes’thende then pulled out the party tricks and embarrassed their opponents with a spectacular fourth goal in the 70th minute.

Powerful box-to-box midfielder, Nqobeko Dlamini, controlled the ball with his chest and thigh before volleying it past a helpless Mbanjwa.

Arrows headed into the encounter wanting to get back to winning ways following their defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns in their last time out.

The Arrows technical team opted for the tried and tested up-front as the upbeat Mmodi, Knox Mutizwa and Sibiya lined up as the front three of a 4-3-3 formation.

The Dube Birds weren’t necessarily blown away in the first stanza as they controlled 50% of the ball possession.

Their biggest issue was lack of imagination in the final third where they registered one shot on target in comparison to the four by Arrows.

In the end the skill and powerful arsenal of Arrows proved too much to handle for Swallows which suffered their fourth defeat this season.

In the other 3pm kick-off, a 50th minute Ronaldo Maarman strike was enough for Chippa United to claim a 1-0 victory over Marumo Gallants, their second win in a row.