SuperSport United survive the chop following dramatic Premiership finale against Golden Arrows

SuperSport United endured a nerve-wracking 45 minutes to secure their place in the top-flight next season, playing to a 1-1 draw in the resumption of their Premiership fixture against Golden Arrows at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

The draw came at a crucial time, allowing Matsatsantsa a Pitori on 27 points to leapfrog Cape Town City on the same amount of points into 14th position, pushing the Cape side down to 15th due to a better goal difference.

City will now wait to learn the outcome of an investigation in the NFD Motsepe Foundation Championship regarding Durban City’s alleged use of an ineligible player to determine who they will face in the promotion play-offs.

Abafana Bes’thende still had a mathematical chance of reaching the top eight, but it would have required scoring six goals in one half – a highly unlikely outcome, given their season average of less than a goal per game.

The responsibility to guide Matsatsantsa to safety fell to interim coach Andre Arendse, who took over to complete the job left unfinished by then-head coach Gavin Hunt. 

Their previous meeting was halted due to a power outage that cut short Hunt’s milestone 1,000th professional game celebration, preventing the completion of the second half.

Much has changed since that abandoned match, including Hunt’s departure.

Despite a rough patch in form, Matsatsantsa still had control of their destiny. 

With the second half resuming at 1-1, all they needed was to hold onto that score or secure a win to steer clear of the PSL promotion play-offs – making it arguably the most significant 45 minutes in the club’s history.

All eyes were on this encounter, especially from the Citizens, who occupied the final safe position in 14th ahead of this match.

Their late-season surge – featuring a crucial 2-0 win over Polokwane City and a goalless draw with neighbours Stellenbosch FC – had kept their hopes alive after appearing doomed just weeks prior.

SuperSport, typically a mainstay in the league’s top eight and unaccustomed to relegation battles, came into this match with a key advantage.

In the end, that edge proved vital, as they managed to weather the storm and secure their top-flight status, living to fight another season.

Speaking after his side fought their way to safety, Arendse was pleased with their efforts after a gruelling season.

“The longest 45 minutes of my life, that is for sure,” the former Bafana goalkeeper said.

“There is a proud history that comes with this club and the people in it.

“I just want to talk a little bit about the game. That performance is not who we are as a club, but the situation warranted that we do things that we are really not familiar with.

“We had to make sure that we did what we had to do to get to this point.

“It was a tough challenge. I told my technical team this morning that through my 30 years in the game playing at the highest level and experiencing all the different pressures, this was a different level.

“We just haven’t had a little bit of luck, and we have had to fight all the way. And as I said before, we had to do it the hard way, and we did in the end.”