Sports correspondent Herman Gibbs takes a look at five talking points from this weekend’s MTN8 semi-final action.
Cape Town — The weekend’s MTN8 first-leg semi-finals dished up its fair share of drama while delivering some home truths about Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane and referee Victor Gomes, while exposing Mamelodi Sundowns as becoming increasingly impotent in front of goal.
The matches at Orlando Stadium and FNB Stadium provided a fair number of flash points that offers five talking points from the weekend’s action.
1. Zwane living on borrowed time
Zwane has shown that he is not up to the task of being Chiefs coach. Before Sunday’s game against AmaZulu, he guided the team to a Premiership win against SuperSport United who despite seeing less of the ball created far more scoring chances.
On Sunday, Chiefs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession but had to settle for a draw, even though the opposition was reduced to 10 players for 36 minutes in the second half.
In the league, Chiefs are languishing in the bottom half of the standings in ninth place with three wins from eight matches. After Sunday’s match, the team came under fire from their fans on social media.
2. Gomes saw red – four times
Gomes, who has won the PSL Referee of the Season award several times, enjoyed a fair bit of limelight at FNB Stadium on Sunday. He dished out four cards although only one was for a player on the field of play.
The first red was for AmaZulu defender Veluyeke Zulu who picked up two yellow cards. Next was Gabadinho Mhango, who had earlier been substituted and was standing on the sidelines when Gomes showed him a red card.
A TV commentator said Mhango said something that resulted in Gomes showing him a red card. Mhango seemed highly amused although he will be suspended. Next followed a red card for AmaZulu goalkeeper coach, Johan Abselon.
The fourth red was for Chiefs’ unused substitute George Matlou who was pulling at the jersey of AmaZulu goalkeeper Veli Mothwa as he was walking off the field.
3. Pirates have a championship look about them
Saturday’s match against Sundowns ended in a 0-0 draw, but man-for-man Orlando Pirates produced the better performance. The game plan devised by Pirates’ Spanish coach Jose Riveiro was spot on and Sundowns, despite their star-studded line-up, were made to look ordinary.
Even Marcelo Allende, Sundowns’ Chilean signing who has been looking like the season’s premier signing, was kept on a tight leash. Several Pirates players stepped up their game and at least seven players were better than their counterparts in the opposition ranks.
Pirates’ new signings Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo and Kermit Erasmus both look like they will make a huge impact as the season unfolds.
4. The ball is in Dolly’s court
Zwane raised eyebrows when he omitted Keagan Dolly from the starting team against AmaZulu, although it was justified. Dolly has not been making a meaningful impact and it is one of the reasons for the team’s poor run.
Dolly managed to score the equaliser and during his celebration, he pointed to the name on the back of the jersey. He might have wanted to serve a reminder to the technical staff that he can still score goals. He will do far better if he lets his ability do the talking on the field of play so that he can secure a regular place in future starting line-ups.
After Chiefs’ spate of signings, competition for places is high and on Sunday that message would have come through to Dolly.
5. Strange but true: Sundowns didn’t have one shot on target!
It would not have surprised me if Tlhopane Motsepe, the Sundowns chairperson, had some harsh words for his coaches Steve Komphela, Rhulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mnqgithi at Monday’s board meeting.
The club has provided a multimillion-rand budget for them to buy the best available players and the team did not register one shot on target against Pirates.
The squad is far and away the most expensive in the PSL and Mnqgithi was moved to say after the match it was rare for the side to come away without one shot on target. It was rare indeed!
