SuperSport United edge out Maritzburg United 3-2 in an Absa Premiership match played at a rain-soaked, almost deserted Loftus Stadium in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.

Persistent rain over 24 hours before the kick-off had ceased, but the game was still a dampener for the coach of the defending champions and log leaders Gavin Hunt and he described SuperSport's performances as "haphazard and unacceptable" after they had led 2-0 and 3-1 and seemed to have the three points all sewn up.

But Hunt himself might not have been blameless for the fade-out, with second-half substitutions doing nothing to enhance SuperSport's performance after the champions had led 1-0 at the interval through a snap goal from Jabulani Malulea in the 45th minute.

SuperSport appeared to take control of the proceedings when a scorching shot on the run from Liberian international Anthony Laffor gave them a 2-0 lead in the 54th minute, but instead the goal seemed to herald a growing deterioration in the team's performance.

And Maritzburg substitute Brice Aka took advantage of lackadaisical SuperSport defending to reduce the deficit in the 70th minute and insert fresh life into the struggling KwaZulu-Natal combination who were playing under the tutelage of former Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp for the first time following the sudden departure of Gordon Igesund.

Laffor, constantly in the thick of the action, took advantage of Maritzburg's leaky defence to score his second goal in the 72nd minute and seemingly consolidate SuperSport's advantage at the top of the log.

But Maritzburg refused to go down without a fight and Rudolph Bester, who was thwarted from scoring in the first half by a sensational save from SuperSport goalkeeper Emille Baron, recorded a well-deserved goal in the 81st minute to keep the outcome in the balance until the final whistle.

"With this kind of fighting spirit," German-born Maritzburg coach Middendorp said afterwards, "I'm confident we can turn the corner and move into a respectable position in the log table."