Supersport United returned to winning ways in the DSTV Premiership on Wednesday night with a 1-0 victory over Amakhosi.
Supersport United returned to winning ways in the DSTV Premiership on Wednesday night with a 1-0 victory over Amakhosi.
This was the club’s fourth clean sheet in six league games this season.
The shutout also ended a recent run, seeing them conceding five goals in three games across multiple competitions.
Gavin Hunt’s side started the 2023-2024 season with a water-tight defence, which kept three successive clean sheets in the DSTV Premiership against Richards Bay, Amazulu and Cape Town City.
The club conceded its first league goal of the season against Stellenbosch FC in their fourth league game when Jayden Adams found the back of the net.
The wheels then fell off in late August when they lost 3-0 against Golden Arrows, the heavy defeat was their first of the season in the league.
THE IME OKON FACTOR
The common denominator in Supersport’s impressive clean sheet run in the first weeks of the season is the inclusion of Ime Okon in the heart of the defence.
The club has not yet conceded a league goal in a game in which Okon was in the starting line-up.
When Okon was dropped for the league game against Stellenbosch FC, he wasintroduced late in the 88th minute to help the club avoid conceding a late equaliser, and hisinclusion ensured that the club kept Stellenbosch at bay to secure a 2-1 win.
The young defender has recently made it into the national team fold while also playing apivotal role for his club.
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Hunt has had a selection dilemma in finding a defensive partner for the club’s reigning Player of the Season, Thulani Hlatshwayo, as he has tinkered between Siyanda Xulu and Okon in the early parts of the season.
Okon is slowly establishing himself as a Thatayaone Ditlhowe replacement of sorts.
The young defender and his predecessor were on opposite ends for the first time on Wednesday as Okon and his defensive partners got the better of Kaizer Chiefs’ attackers.
His impressive record of helping SuperSport keep a clean sheet in every league game remains intact this season.