A new Carling Knockout football champion will be crowned
Kaizer Chiefs will have another shot at beating the marauding Mamelodi Sundowns in the return leg of the away fixture of the Betway Premiership.
There will be a new Carling Knockout trophy champion come November 23 when the final is held at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.
This follows the ousting of defending champions Stellenbosch FC at the hands of Marumo Gallants with a 1-0 score line at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein on November 3.
Read more: A grudge match on the cards for Chiefs against Downs in Carling Knockout
Last year’s losing finalists TS Galaxy were bumped out of the competition by giant killers Magesi FC at the Mbombela Stadium for the same score line of 1-0. A semi-final draw was conducted soon after the TS Galaxy-Marumo Gallants match.
It produced mouth-watering clashes between Richards Bay and Magesi, with the other tie being Gallants up against Mamelodi Sundowns. These two semi-final matches will be played on November 9 and 10 respectively and kick-off for both is set for 15:00.
There was also a change of the original venue for the final from Orlando Stadium in Soweto to the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein and the Premier Soccer League did not advance any reason for this move.
Masandawana advanced to the semis at the expense of Kaizer Chiefs, with a four-fingered slap on the face to no reply from AmaKhosi at the FNB Stadium, making it a second loss ensured by the Soweto Glamour Boys to Sundowns in a space of a little more than a month.
Also read: Will the Chiefs soccer beast be resuscitated in Carling Knockout?
There were so many expectations in the Downs-Chiefs clash, with fans of AmaKhosi believing that Masandawana would not be able to post two victories over Chiefs in such a short space of time, hence, it was dubbed a grudge game.
In the September 28 Betway Premiership game, Chiefs were all over Sundowns for most of the first half and were rewarded with a goal-scoring opener that somehow changed the complexion of play and catapulted the Brazilians to up their game and started knocking the ball around and keeping most of the possession.
I am certain this was also the emphasis at the halftime pep talk that the boys should calm their nerves and play their normal game and not allow AmaKhosi to dictate the gameplay and they were rewarded with two goals to beat AmaKhosi 2-1.
In the second game, Downs were boosted by the return of Brazilian dangerman Lucas Ribeiro and door shutter Mothobi Mvala, who ensured the door of the goals was shut for Chiefs.
There is still a round two of the league for Chiefs but the only hurdle is that it will be an away game. But with the Nedbank Cup still in the wings, who knows, it might birth another Downs-Chiefs clash.
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Related article: Carling Knockout kicks off this coming weekend
