Cape Town City kept their slender hopes of an astonishing Premiership victory alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Free State Stars on Friday night, but coach Eric Tinkler feels the momentum in the title race is with BidVest Wits.
The victory moved City to within two points of leaders Wits, though they have played a game more and have just three matches remaining in the campaign.
Judas Moseamedi scored the only goal in what was a deserved victory for the Cape Town side. Tinkler says their immediate goal is to finish third and qualify for the African Confederation Cup and anything above that should be seen as a bonus. "Wits have definitely got the momentum, I have been saying that for a while," Tinkler said. "That five point gap they created over us is significant, though they have a couple of difficult fixtures coming up, but so does everybody.
"They have [Kaizer] Chiefs last game of the season, they have Free State Stars away from home, that's going to be a tough one. But I just think right now they are the in-form team," he said.
Mamelodi Sundowns are the other side in contention but they trail Wits by three points and have slipped up in recent matches with just a single point taken from the last four available.
"Sundowns ... I don't think their games have been that great recently," Tinkler said. "Against Golden Arrows, I thought Arrows were by far the better team in the first half and should have gone into the break one or two up.
"But Sundowns' quality and experience will get them results. Against Platinum Stars, I expected them to win that one, but it just shows you how difficult this league is."
Tinkler has played down his side's chances of eclipsing Wits and Sundowns in the league, but says third place would still represent an excellent campaign that also included victory in the Telkom Knockout in December.