Football
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 6y

Ajax Cape Town climb out of PSL dropzone

Ajax Cape Town lifted themselves out of the PSL relegation zone with a dramatic last-gasp win on Tuesday as Kaizer Chiefs' woes continued as they went down in Durban for the second time in four days.

A goalless draw between Bloemfontein Celtic and Chippa United left both clubs inside the top eight and safe from being sucked down into the relegation battle.

Ajax captain Musa Lebusa scored four minutes into stoppage time as Ajax moved out of the bottom two for the first time in months and handed themselves a lifeline with a 1-0 win over Baroka FC at the Athlone Stadium.

It was a must-win game for Ajax in their penultimate home match of the season, and their win sees SuperSport United drop to second from bottom, although they can bounce out of the relegation places on Wednesday when they host Free State Stars.

It also means bottom-placed Platinum Stars could have their fate sealed, and be automatically relegated, on Wednesday when another five league matches are played.

Ajax had battled to carve open their visitors' defence until they went on a final five-minute rampage and suddenly had a succession of chances.

Ivorian Yannick Zakri and Lebusa both conjured up bad misses, before Sirgio Kammies set up Lebusa for a header from point-blank range in the 95th minute.

Managerless Chiefs, whose fans had rioted after their cup semi-final defeat to Free State Stars on Saturday, stayed behind in Durban for the game at KwaMashu against Arrows and were beaten 3-1.

Lerato Lamola got Arrows off to the perfect start with a lobbed goal as early as the fourth minute, and Chiefs' woes were compounded just 12 minutes later when striker Leonard Castro was sent off for a horror challenge.

However, in their first game under caretaker coach Patrick Mabedi, Chiefs fought back to level through veteran Bernard Parker on the stroke of half-time.

At the start of the second half, Lamola popped up again to restore the home team's lead, and Velemseni Ndwandwe ensured the victory with a third goal in the dying minutes.

Chiefs remain fourth in the standings and, with two games to go, still have a chance to secure a top-three finish and a place in the 2019 CAF Confederation Cup.

However, any hopes of being runners-up and going to the Champions League are now over.

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