Posted in Match Report, News on Oct 31, 2017.
Kaizer Chiefs 0
Polokwane City 0
What Happened?
Kaizer Chiefs and Polokwane City played to a goalless draw in an Absa Premiership match at Polokwane’s New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday evening. Amakhosi had most of the chances, but they couldn’t find the back of the net.
Lorenzo Gordinho came back into the side, replacing Siyabonga Ngezana, who got a break to concentrate on his Matric exams. Gordinho missed a few matches due to a rib injury.
Polokwane played at home and they were not afraid to attack. It resulted in the first goalscoring opportunity coming the way of Rise and Shine.
However, overall, Chiefs had the better first half, looking the more dangerous side to score.
Bernard Parker got a brilliant chance to put the ball in the back of the net in the 17th minute, but the goalkeeper made an excellent save. On the other hand, the linesman raised his flag, which meant that he had spotted offside.
The Glamour Boys defended well, with Erick Mathoho doing well and being backed up by Daniel Cardoso, who spoke a lot to organise the back three.
Joseph Molangoane was again a constant threat on the wing, while Siphiwe Tshabalala clearly wanted to show Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter that he has hit the right form to start against Senegal next week.
Parker, meanwhile, was lively up-front, holding up balls nicely and being a handful for the City defenders.
No goals were scored in the first half of the encounter.
Chiefs upped the tempo in the second half and, as a result, put more pressure on the City defence.
Especially Tshabalala made some great runs on the left flank, playing as if he was still in his twenties. He also gave a nice cross to Parker, but ‘Die Hond’ headed the ball straight to the goalkeeper.
The home side got their opportunities as well, with the best coming in the 55th minute. Itumeleng Khune made a great reflex save on the first header, before another City player headed the ball past the wrong side of the goalpost.
There was one more chance for Parker a few minutes later, but the striker’s shot from close range failed to hit the target.
Chiefs got some more great opportunities around the 75th minute in the match when first Ekstein hit the ball over the crossbar, while Tshabalala’s scorching shot from inside the box bounced off the post.
Another fine chance came the way of substitute Dumsani Zuma - the ball went past the goalkeeper, but, sadly enough, also past the upright.
Amakhosi were the better side on the night, but no goals meant no win, which was unfortunate looking at the performance.
Key moment in the match:
There were a few moments that could have been helped Chiefs to score. We single out two. Firstly, there was the left-footed shot from Siphiwe Tshabalala. The ball looked to hit the back of the net with venom. Instead, it was the post that blocked the ball from going into the goal and from finding the 1-0. Another was Hendrick Ekstein’s powerful shot at goal, also in the second half. It was an excellent chance after some good work from Shabba, but ‘Pule’ failed to hit the target.
Most Valuable Player (MVP):
Joseph ‘Tight’ Molangoane was again lively, making several threatening runs and getting involved in good one-two combinations. ‘Tight’ would have loved to have added a goal on top of his excellent performance, but that wasn’t to be.
What it means:
The goalless draw means that Chiefs gained one point. With Bloemfontein Celtic beating Maritzburg United, they went past Amakhosi on the Absa Premiership log. Celtic moved to 15 points from 9 matches, while the Glamour Boys are now on 14 points after having played 10 games. Chiefs stay, however, in 4th position, having as many points as Orlando Pirates.
Kaizer Chiefs 11: Khune; Cardoso, Mathoho, Gordinho, Zulu; Molangoane, Katsande, Maluleka, Tshabalala (Chirambadare 85’); Ekstein (Zuma 76’), Parker (Páez 67’)
Subs not used: Khuzwayo, Jayiya, Meyiwa, Moon
Polokwane City 11: Chigova; Ravhuhali, Mbonani, Maponyane, Semenya; Phiri (Vilikazi 84’), Seabi, Klaas (Mngomezulu 82’), Ndou; Ramagalele, Maluleka
Subs not used: Ndlovu, Hlongwane, Tlolane, Tshilo, Booi
Next Match:
Amakhosi next play Chippa United on the road at Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday, 5 November (kick-off is at 15:30).