It will be a straight forward journey to the Free State on Saturday afternoon for Chiefs.

Taking three points off Bloemfontein Celtic might not be as straight forward, Muhsin Ertugral is aware of that and is asking for his team to be just as lethal as they were during their 4-2 midweek victory over Golden Arrows.

Celtic who presently occupy the third place on the PSL standings have played far fewer games than Chiefs have in December, while The Amakhosi have been in league and cup action four times this month Celtic have played just two games drawing with Thanda Royal Zulu on Sunday and holding off the challenge of Jomo Cosmos in midweek to record a 2-0 win over Ezenkosi.

Celtic started off the season under new coach Khabo Zondo at a blistering pace and were the form team in the early part of the season. Over the last two months they have been unable to reproduce the form that had seen them become the early pace setters. Their results have been fairly inconsistent as they have alternated between wins, draws and losses. It has been their recent run which has seen them drop points, that has resulted in them falling from a position of strength down the pecking order behind Ajax Cape Town and Free State rivals Free State Stars who are a point above them in second spot.

Chiefs and Celtic have already met once this season and it was The Amakhosi who stood out and won the game by a solitary Gerald Sibeko strike when the teams met in November during the Telkom KO Cup semifinal. While that victory was on neutral territory at the Independence Stadium in Mmabatho, on Sunday Chiefs will be aiming to do the same at Celtics fortress like Seisa Ramabodu Stadium.

The History

Chiefs and Celtic have a long standing rivalry which stretches back to the 1980’s and over time has become more and more intense, with Celtic enjoying a strong and passionate support base with matches between the two teams in recent years have been very colorful encounters. With both sets of supporters coming out in full voice and force, bringing some of their best party wares out which creates a carnival like spectacle at matches involving the two teams, the games have been turned into a real fan fare.

On the pitch Chiefs have pretty much held sway and in the last six league meetings between the teams, The Amakhosi have managed to put thirteen goals past Celtic and on two occasions managed to find the back of the net four times. Over the past three seasons Chiefs have pretty much had the better of Celtic and won four, drew one and lost just once during these six meetings.

Last season Celtic managed to win just their third game against Chiefs in sixteen league meetings between the teams and it was their first win over Chiefs since May 2001. At the end of the 2000 – 2001 Celtic were relegated from the PSL. They did come back into the PSL in the 2004 – 2005 season, when Chiefs successfully defended their PSL title they won the season before. In the first meeting and after an absence of three seasons in the PSL Chiefs ran home 4-1 winners, the return game happened to be on the final day of the same season it was a game that Chiefs had to win at the Free State Stadium.

After holding Chiefs at bay for the first forty five minutes Collins Mbesuma scored twice in a ten minute period in the second half to hand Chiefs a win and the league title.

The last time the teams met was in March this year shortly after Chiefs had parted ways with Ernst Middendorp, The Amakhosi were ruthless and easily dispatched of Celtic. Kaizer Motaung Junior found his second hat trick of the season as Chiefs cruised to a 4-0 win.

Look out for

Many people had criticized Chiefs for not having been creative enough during their draw with Santos on the weekend a few days later and David Mathebula showed just what a genius he is with the ball, as he played out of his socks when Chiefs defeated Golden Arrows in midweek. Mathebula was taking on defenders at will and was opening up the Arrows backline as he pleased, with some neat foot work and trickery which really pleased his coach. He created two of Chiefs goals and was at the heart of almost any attack launched by The Amakhosi, further more he seemed to be the missing link that Chiefs were looking for.

Mathebula and his midfielder partner Siphiwe Tshabalala combined brilliantly and together they gave Chiefs the edge in the game and allowed for The Amakhosi to dominate from start to finish. Tshabalala scored his second goal of the season during Wednesday’s match with Arrows and won the free kick that lead to Chiefs second goal. Between Mathebula and Tshabalala they played apart in all of Chiefs goals during the Arrows win, they will be expected to feature strongly against Celtic.

Celtic’s strength as a team can be seen in the fact that of the twelve goals they have scored in the league this season, they have been scored by ten different players only captain John Maduka and striker Mark Amofah have found the back of the net more than once this season. Amofah will go into the game on some thing of a high as the two goals he scored this season came during Celtic’s recent 2-0 win over Cosmos. Kleinbooi Taaibos was the live wire during Celtic’s mid week win, he set up Amofah for his team’s first goal and over all kept his cool in dealing with the very physical Cosmos rear guard.

Zondo though could be with out the services of Ugandan defender Timothy Batabaire who injured himself during the Cosmos game, he will be relying on former Chiefs old boy Gary Goldstone to hold the defense together. Goldstone who made his professional debut as a Chiefs player in 1999, recently broke and eight year scoring drought when he found his first goal in professional football during the Telkom KO ¼ Finals against Amazulu. Goldstone will be looking to shine and leave his mark on the match when his former team visits Bloemfontein this weekend.