Talking Points from Week 15 in the Econet Premier League

This weekend was an action-packed one in the Econet Premier League with goals and surprises. Here are some talking points from the weekend’s action.

Man on form... Tšepo Seturumane

Seturumane on form for LMPS

Tšepo Seturumane is one of Lesotho’s most talented players and is a potential game-winner on any given day.

When he is on form things usually go well for LMPS and that’s what happened on Sunday when Seturumane scored twice to help Simunye beat Sefotha-fotha 5-0.

Last weekend the Likuena star was also on the score-sheet as LMPS beat Matlama 1-0 in the LNIG Top 8 quarterfinal first legs.

Seturumane catching fire in 2020 has coincided with a return to form for LMPS as well.

LMPS were third in the league in November but lost four straight games to end 2019.

Simunye are unbeaten in 2020.

They have won three of their four Econet Premier League games this year and have climbed back up the table into fifth place. With Seturumane leading the way, LMPS are firmly back in the top four picture.

They are just one point behind Linare (third) and Lifofane (fourth).

LMPS league form in 2020:
11/01/20	Lijabatho	0-1	LMPS	W
19/01/20	LMPS	2-0	Lifofane	W
25/01/20	Lifofane	1-1	LMPS	D
09/02/20	LMPS	5-0	Lijabatho	W

Linare flying under Ramafole

Speaking of Linare, they are hot right now. On Saturday, Linare beat Likhopo 4-0 in Maputsoe to continue their fine run in the Econet Premiership.

Apart from runaway leaders Bantu, Tse Tala are the league’s form team.

Linare haven’t lost a league game since losing 1-0 to Matlama in October. Since then Tse Tala have gone unbeaten in seven games and have won five of their last six matches.

The mastermind has been club hero Moses Ramafole who has transformed Linare from a team that finished 11th last season to one that has a good chance of finishing in the top four this year.

By beating Likhopo, Linare notched their seventh win of this season which is already more than the six games they won during the whole of last season.

Thanks to that improvement under Ramafole, Linare are on course for their first top four finish since 2013/14.

Linare’s upturn in form:
30/10/19	Matlama	1-0	Linare	L
23/11/19	Linare	1-1	Liphakoe	D
30/11/19	Linare	1-0	LMPS	W
07/12/19	Linare	1-0	Sefotha-fotha	W
22/12/19	Linare	4-2	Lijabatho	W
11/01/20	Likhopo	1-2	Linare	W
25/01/20	Lijabatho	0-0	Linare	D
08/02/20	Linare	4-0	Likhopo	W

Swallows headed for relegation

A cat has nine lives but Swallows are running out of chances.

Last season the Mazenod side miraculously survived relegation on the last day of the season to send Galaxy down in their place.

Instead of learning from that experience, Swallows once again find themselves in the relegation zone and their performances are arguably even worse. The last time Swallows won a game was on October 6.

In last six matches they have lost five times, their latest defeat coming on Saturday against Sefotha-fotha.

With the season now in its final third, Swallows are four points from safety and firm favourites for relegation.

Back to save the day... Jane Thaba-Ntšo

Jane Thaba-Ntšo returns to inspire Matlama

Matlama were sweating all of last week over the fitness of Jane Thaba-Ntšo who missed last weekend’s LNIG Top 8 loss to LMPS with a muscle injury.

Tse Putsoa struggled offensively without the Lesotho international in that game and they desperately needed him back for their crunch tie against LCS on Sunday.

Matlama’s prayers were answered, not only with an appearance by Thaba-Ntšo but a brace from the Likuena star to help the champions to a 3-1 win over Masheshena which kept their title hopes alive.

Matlama are 12 points behind Bantu with the rivals set to clash this coming weekend. Tse Putsoa will be hoping their talisman is on form again.

Two steps back for Lioli

Every time Lioli have taken a step forward this season they have immediately taken two steps back.

Last month Lioli hired Morena Ramorebodi as coach and they got off to a good start under the South African tactician by beating LDF 4-1 in his first game followed by a solid 1-1 draw with LDF in last weekend’s LNIG Top 8 quarterfinal first legs.

Lioli’s form (last nine games):
03/11/19	Lioli	2-1	Sefotha-fotha	W
23/11/19	LMPS	1-2	Lioli	W
30/11/19	Likhopo	1-1	Lioli	D
22/12/19	Matlama	2-1	Lioli	L
11/01/20	Lifofane	2-0	Lioli	L
19/01/20	Lioli	2-1	Lijabatho	W
22/01/20	Lioli	1-4	LDF	L
25/01/20	LDF	1-4	Lioli	W
09/02/20	Lioli	1-2	Lifofane	L

However, just when things were looking up, Lioli suffered a surprise 2-1 home defeat to Lifofane on Sunday.

Credit to Lifofane, they have been the surprise of the season.

However, for Lioli this is a worrying trend. Despite the talent in their squad, their season hasn’t really kicked off with good results repeatedly followed by disappointing ones.

Thanks to their inconsistent form, Lioli find themselves seventh in the Econet Premier League and in danger of missing out on a top four place for the second season in a row.

Weekend Results:

Saturday:

Bantu 3-1 Kick4Life

Swallows 0-3 Sefotha-fotha

Liphakoe 2-3 LDF

Linare 4-0 Likhopo

Sunday:

Matlama 3-1 LCS

LMPS 5-0 Lijabatho

Lioli 1-2 Lifofane

Econet Premier League Standings:

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
1	Bantu	15	14	1	0	39	4	+35	43
2	Matlama	15	9	4	2	28	9	+19	31
3	Linare	15	7	4	4	19	12	+7	25
4	Lifofane	15	7	4	4	14	13	+1	25
5	LMPS	15	7	3	5	15	10	+5	24
6	LCS	15	6	5	4	13	11	+2	23
7	Lioli	15	6	3	6	20	18	+2	21
8	Likhopo	14	4	5	5	17	20	-3	17
9	Kick4Life	15	4	4	7	12	22	-10	16
10	LDF	14	4	5	5	17	19	-2	14
11	Sefotha-fotha	14	3	4	7	8	13	-5	13
12	Liphakoe	14	1	7	6	8	18	-10	10
13	Lijabatho	15	1	6	8	10	21	-11	9
14	Swallows	15	1	3	11	5	37	-32	6