Posted in News on Jan 18, 2007.
As Cosmos began to slide some time in November Chiefs fortunes took an upturn as The Amakhosi have lost just one of their last nine game, and have drawn just two more winning an astonishing six games in the past two months of league activity. In the recent past both teams have picked up the pace and have played themselves into a position where they can make serious bids, to knock Silver Stars off their perch on top of the PSL Standings.
Since the resumption of the PSL at the beginning of January Cosmos have climbed up to sixth place in the league standings, by having won three games in a row as well as scoring nine goals in their opening three games of 2007.
Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is aware of the challenge posed by Cosmos and is not taking Jomo Sono’s team lightly, the Chiefs coach has been thorough in his preparation for the game and has been buoyed by the fact that he can call upon the muscle of both Ditheko Mototo and Rotson Kilambe who have both returned from injury to take on the might of Cosmos.
Overview
The has always been a strong rivalry between Kaizer Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos, although things did spill over last season after Chiefs striker Serge Djiehoua suffered a lengthy lay off after he was injured in a game against Cosmos.
Djiehoua was brought down by Cosmos Andrew Rabutla and a war of words erupted between the two teams, with the calming down of hostilities between the teams the two club owners Kaizer Motaung of Kaizer Chiefs and his Cosmos counterpart Jomo Sono recently co founded an organization to assist former South African professional football players.
Nevertheless a match between Chiefs and Cosmos is known for the intense rivalry and they are usually hard fought encounters, with neither team wanting to lose matches between The Amakhosi and Ezenkosi usually go down to the wire.
As was the case when the teams met earlier this season at the FNB Stadium, Cosmos stormed into the lead inside the first twenty minutes of the game Chiefs found themselves two goals down, as Chris Katongo continued his early season goal scoring exploits to put his team in the driving seat early on.
Chiefs though fought on and soon after going two goals down Shaun Bartlett scored from close range to once again open up the contest, although Chiefs had a number of opportunities to draw level they had to wait until the 88th minute to find an equalizer.
Thanks to a Kaizer Motaung strike two minutes from time Chiefs were able to gain a point from the game, the match with its open, attacking and exciting football was indicative of the exciting game of football that is the result of a match between Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos.
Form
Cosmos begun 2007 by knocking over PSL heavy weights Mamelodi Sundowns and most recently handed a four nil drubbing away from home to Bidvest Wits this past weekend, prior to defeating Wits and Sundowns Cosmos began 2007 by gaining a 4-2 victory on the road against Amazulu.
Although Cosmos have Chris Katongo to thank for finding the back of the net with ease as he scored four of their first five goals of 2007 including a hat trick against Amamzulu on the 7th January, Ezenkosi have shown that they can cope with life with out the Zambian Katongo.
Katongo who lead the PSL goal scoring charts with 14 goals this season so far, packed his bags recently and transferred to Danish Superliga side Brondby IF, with an emphatic away win against a strong Bidvest Wits team with out Katongo.
Cosmos have demonstrated that they are perfectly capable of scoring goals and winning games with out Katongo, Jomo Sono’s team have begun 2007 in fine style and will be aiming to keep up this good run this weekend.
Whereas Cosmos began the year on a winning note Chiefs start to 2007 was not what they would have liked as they were defeated in their opening game of the New Year by SuperSport United, it was a vastly improved Chiefs team who took on Silver Stars a few days after the SuperSport game.
Chiefs showed no signs of the cracks which appeared against SuperSport and instead it was a workman like performance from The Amakhosi, against the log leaders in a game which was dominated by Chiefs who were unfortunate not to have taken home all three points.
Chiefs continued their new year’s resurgence with a win over Benoni Premier United this past weekend it was not just the fact that they won the game that would please Coach Ernst Middendorp, Chiefs overall performance against the Rabbits made Middendorp smile and applaud his team off the field at the end of the game.
The Amakhosi were really dominant on Sunday and have gone along way to have wiped away their loss to SuperSport United, and will be looking to hang onto second place in the league with a win against Cosmos on Sunday. Given their current form and confidence Chiefs should be able to put one over their rivals from across Johannesburg, thereby keeping up the pressure on Silver Stars.
Key Players
Kaizer Motaung Junior remains one of Chiefs star attractions of the new seasons he recently scored his tenth goal of all time for Chiefs and will be hoping to add to his tally against Cosmos, Kaizer Junior stole the headlines with a wonder goal towards the end of normal time when the teams met back in September.
Given his current form no one would bet against the young striker doing it again, Kaizer Junior has been ably supported by Siyabonga Nkosi in recent games Nkosi too has been in scintillating test and the pair are aware that they will have their work cut out for them if they are to penetrate the strong Cosmos defensive wall.
Along with Nkosi and Kaizer Junior a lot will rest on the shoulders of Tinashe Nengomasha who like Nkosi has been improving game by game and has former a pillar of strength for Chiefs as he has been able to help Chiefs in both attack and defense.
Many pundits had said that Jomo Cosmos would find life tough with out Chris Katongo, in his absence a number of players who were lurking in the shadows of the Zambian striker, have come out and take on the goal scoring responsibilities. During their 4-0 win over Wits Sono’s team managed to score three goals in the final eleven minutes of the game, thanks to the hard work of Anthony Laffor Cosmos managed to put daylight between themselves and Wits.
With Katongo now transferred away from Cosmos a lot will rest on the shoulders of Laffor who found himself laying on and scoring goals in Cosmos victory over the weekend, Laffor will be supported by the likes of Calvin Kadi and Dingaan Mabalane who were a handful for Wits this past weekend.
Kaizer Chiefs Vs Jomo Cosmos results since inception of the PSL in 1996 – 1997
1996 – 1997
Jomo Cosmos 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Lebese)
Kaizer Chiefs 0 Jomo Cosmos 0
1997 – 1998
Jomo Cosmos 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1
Kaizer Chiefs 1 Jomo Cosmos 0
1998 – 1999
Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Lebese 89’) Jomo Cosmos 0
Jomo Cosmos 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Nomvete 71’)
1999 – 2000
Jomo Cosmos 0 Kaizer Chiefs 0
Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Nomvete 41’ pen) Jomo Cosmos 1
2000 – 2001
Jomo Cosmos 2 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Tshisevhe 52’)
Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Nomvete 38, Illodigwe 38) Jomo Cosmos 0
2001 – 2002
Kaizer Chiefs 0 Jomo Cosmos 2
Jomo Cosmos 0 Kaizer Chiefs 0
2002 – 2003
Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Moshoeu 6’, Radebe 56’) Jomo Cosmos 0
Jomo Cosmos 1 Kaizer Chiefs 3 (Radebe 41’, 71’, Moshoeu 89’)
2003 – 2004
Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Zwane 42’) Jomo Cosmos 0
Jomo Cosmos 1 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mufulirwa 48’ own goal)
2004 – 2005
Jomo Cosmo 0 Kaizer Chiefs 3 (Mbesuma, Chalwe, Sibeko)
Kaizer Chiefs 0 Jomo Cosmos 0
2005 – 2006
Jomo Cosmos 1 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Djiehoua)
Kaizer Chiefs 0 Jomo Cosmos 0
2006 – 2007
Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Bartlett 20, Kaizer Junior 88)
Cosmos 2
Head to Head Since 1996 - 1997
P W L D GF GA GD
Chiefs 21 10 2 9 22 10 12
Cosmos 21 2 10 9 10 22 -12
