Visiting Moroka Swallows extended their winless streak to eight consecutive matches, as the Soweto outfit lost their fifth game on the trot, going down 2-1 to Bloemfontein Celtic in a Premiership clash at the Free State Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Katlego Mashego scored his eighth league goal of the season, before Lerato Manzini cancelled out the opener early in the second half, allowing Letladi Madubanya to steal the victory for the home side in the 77th minute.

Celtic headed into the clash on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Free State Stars last week, while Swallows lost 3-1 to SuperSport United for their fourth consecutive defeat, also last weekend.

After a quiet opening period, the visitors threatened in the 23rd minute through striker Mashego, who directed an in-swinging corner effort at goal, with Celtic goalkeeper Patrick Tignyemb forced into making an acrobatic save to deny Swallows the opener.

Ten minutes later, Mashego was in the thick of the action again, breaking the deadlock in the 32nd minute and handing the Birds the lead.

Lerato Chabangu saw his shot blocked by the Celtic defence on the edge of the area, only for Mashego to pick up on the loose ball, before dispatching an accurate left-footed attempt on goal, beating a diving Tignyemb.

Shortly after the opener, Celtic narrowly missed out on leveling matters through Lerato Manzini, who had his touch from a Celtic corner strike the crossbar and bounce away from danger, much to the relief of the Swallows goalkeeper, Aubrey Mathibe.

The action continued two minutes later, with Chabangu hitting the crossbar from his free-kick attempt seven minutes before the half-time break.

The hosts came out into the second half and took just 90 seconds to draw level, when Letladi Madubanya found Manzini with a pinpoint through-ball, with Manzini breaking the offside trap and slotting home past Mathibe, for the striker's third Premiership goal of the campaign.

The game quietened down after Manzini's goal, with neither side able to create any decent chances as the fixture approached full-time.

With less than a quarter of the clash left, Celtic took the lead through Madubanya.

A solid build-up from the home side left Madubanya finding the back of the net with a headed goal from close-range, beating Mathibe, who was bundled over by the goal-scorer, but referee Jerome Damon awarded the goal despite furious appeals from the Swallows players.

With the match entering stoppage time, Chabangu whipped in yet another dangerous free-kick in the 94th minute, with the ball missing everyone inside the area, but Tignyemb eventually managed to smother the effort, handing Celtic victory.