Kaizer Chiefs will go to the much-anticipated Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates having failed to win a league match in their last six — this after losing 2-1 to Marumo Gallants at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Amakhosi looked destined to break their winless streak in the league after taking a 12th-minute lead through Glody Lilepo’s wonderful scorcher.
But indifferent defending — 26 goals conceded in 24 matches against 22 scored — continued when Amakhosi allowed Gallants defender Trevor Mathiane to cancel Lilepo’s strike five minutes before the interval.
Mathiane was given an easy route to his goal when the Chiefs’ makeshift central defence pairing of Zitha Kwinika and Bradley Cross reacted too slowly when goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma parried Daniel Msendami’s thunderbolt shot back into the fray. Mathiane was on hand to tap in the rebound to cut short Chiefs’ lead.
With Dillan Solomons at right-back and Happy Mashiane on the left, Chiefs’ whole defence looked unstable as Msendami, Thapelo Mokobodi and Junior Dion always looked capable of scoring whenever the visitors from Free State ventured forward.
Chiefs coach Nasrredine Nabi looked to change the outcome of this match when he substituted midfielder Thabo Cele and Solomons and brought on Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Sibongiseni Mthethwa at the restart. However, the problem in the heart of the defence remained, as Kwinika and Cross continued to look uncomfortable whenever Gallants found pockets of space to spray passes in between them.
Apart from Lilepo, who produced a good strike for his third goal of the season, Chiefs didn’t look sharp up front, where Mduduzi Shabalala, Wandile Duba and Ashley du Preez operated.
Duba was unlucky, though, to see his attempted shot hit the upright in the 63rd minute after being put through by Shabalala in a rare moment in which Chiefs created something in the second half.
Gallants upped the tempo and eventually found the winner through Msendami’s free kick that deceived Bvuma as a cross before it curled in, bringing misery to a decent number of Amakhosi supporters who attended this match.
In the end, the match turned out to be poor preparation for the two blockbuster fixtures Chiefs will play against their chief nemesis Pirates in the coming weeks.
Amakhosi will first host the Buccaneers here on Saturday before meeting them again on May 10 in Durban, where they are expected to break a 10-year trophy drought by capturing the Nedbank Cup.
Chiefs lost 1-0 to Pirates in the corresponding league fixture in January, and will need to win on Saturday if they want to boost their hopes of finishing in the top eight. With this loss, the 11th of the season, their chances of doing better than their worst ever (10th) finish look bleak.
Chiefs have three matches to win if they are to avoid ending this season among teams fighting to avoid the promotion/relegation playoffs.
Kaizer Chiefs (1) 1
Marumo Gallants (1) 2
Scorers: Chiefs — Glody Lilepo (12m)
Gallants — Trevor Mathiane (41m) Daniel Msendani (70m)
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