A clinical Olympia subjected Boksburg to their second loss in as many games in a 5-2 drubbing to keep the Blues winless in the new season.
The Eastern Super League encounter between the two sides was played at the Blues’ home, the Boksburg City Stadium on March 10.
Olympia enjoyed a flying start and put the hosts out of balance as early goals from Andrea de Cecco, Brad Nowicki and Ivan Leo put them in the driving seat.
Shell-shocked from the quick three goals inside the first half hour of the match, the home side struggled to assert themselves until they pulled a goal back towards the break through a Tebogo Modulane penalty.
It was tactics versus technical ability with Olympia coach Giuliano Loddo setting up his team to shut down Boksburg’s talented midfielders and catching them out with route one football on the break, and it worked like a charm.
However, the technically astute hosts began to see more of the ball as their tails rose after the neat Modulane penalty which sent Olympia goalkeeper Riccardo de Cecco the wrong way.
The momentum swung in Boksburg’s favour and their neat one-touch football troubled the visitors but the Blues’ end product repeatedly disappointed.
They were without their focal point Ashton Gardner and his absence was sorely missed. The striker, who was in red-hot form pre-season, recently suffered an injury while playing indoor soccer.
Following the break, Blues captain Dylan Africa restored the game to contest status when he netted his side’s second to make it 3-2.
But they were punished for the biggest mistake they made in the first half: conceding goals cheaply. It allowed the visitors to extend their lead before the game ended 5-2.
Asked for his thoughts on his team’s performance, Olympia trainer, Loddo, said: “It was an up and down performance. We played very well in stages. We allowed Boksburg to come back into the game until we woke up and scored the other two goals.
“The final score did not reflect the game, Boksburg had their opportunities. They created their chances but couldn’t finish in the final third.”
Loddo’s opposite, Ernest Seforo, commented: “We have one problem, we don’t take chances. I had an extensive talk with the team for more than an hour before training (on Monday evening, March 12). Normally in training is where we analyse things we can improve on but this time was different.
“It doesn’t help dominating ball possession and not converting chances.” – @SabeloBoksburg
