Five things we learned from the Absa Premiership this weekend
It was a potentially pivotal weekend in the Absa Premiership, with leaders Kaizer Chiefs losing, and Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits all picking up three points, to narrow the gap in an increasingly exciting title race. Phakaaathi Editor Jonty Mark takes a look at five talking points to emerge from the weekend's games.
Kaizer Chiefs don't need to panic – yet READ MORE - Chiefs coach Middendorp rues mistakes Kaizer Chiefs do have extra reason to look over their shoulder in the Absa Premiership title race, after a loss at home to Maritzburg United and victories for Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits tightened everything up at the top of the table. Amakhosi, however, shouldn't throw any babies out with any bathwater here, as they were the better side against the Team of Choice, creating a host of opportunities, and on any other day this was a fixture they would surely have…
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Kaizer Chiefs do have extra reason to look over their shoulder in the Absa Premiership title race, after a loss at home to Maritzburg United and victories for Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits tightened everything up at the top of the table. Amakhosi, however, shouldn’t throw any babies out with any bathwater here, as they were the better side against the Team of Choice, creating a host of opportunities, and on any other day this was a fixture they would surely have won. Instead, one slip from Daniel Akpeyi and two brilliant strikes from Daylon Claasen turned the match on its head. There are many Chiefs fans now calling for Akpeyi to be replaced by Itumeleng Khune in the Chiefs goal going forward, but that would be ridiculous, as the Nigerian has been a large part of why Amakhosi have done so well in the league this season. The Soweto derby is Chiefs’ next league game, and it would be a huge risk for Ernst Middendorp to bow to public pressure and field Khune. The last time he appeared to do so, against Baroka FC last year, Khune was off injured early in the game and didn’t play for some time.
Pitso Mosimane is the most eminently quotable coach in the Absa Premiership, pure box office in an era of boring manager-speak, and it will be a real shame if he can’t sort out his contract issues with Mamelodi Sundowns, and is lost to South African football at the end of this season. At the end of the 3-0 home win over Chippa United on Saturday, Mosimane went on a rant at his players over their finishing. “It’s unbelievable. The basics of a player inside the box alone, they want to do a first time finish and you can apply it, but you must have the technique for a first time finish. If you don’t have the technique the ball goes to row 11, it doesn’t look good for them and it doesn’t look for the team. I am part of the team and it’s embarrassing sometimes,” said the Sundowns head coach, which may seem a bit ridiculous given the ease with which Sundowns won the game this weekend, but Mosimane is almost certainly just keeping his players on their toes, with so many trophies to play for this season. Behind closed doors he is probably more gentle. His constant winding up of Kaizer Chiefs, over the ease playing only on the domestic front and not in Africa, may grate sometimes, meanwhile, but Mosimane knows exactly what he is doing, attempting to gain any sort of psychological advantage in a tense title race.
Bidvest Wits have been superb on the road for the last couple of seasons, losing just four matches away from home in the Absa Premiership since the start of the 2018/19 campaign. Unfortunately for them, in the corresponding period they have been horrific at home, losing nine league matches over the same period. Gavin Hunt was not far off the mark at all when he said they would have won the league last season with any sort of decent home form, and realistically they would be way closer to Kaizer Chiefs at the top of the table this time around as well. This week was a microcosm of all of this as they slumped 1-0 at home to Maritzburg United, in a lethargic display, before bouncing back with a 1-0 win at Baroka on Saturday. Wits are still very much in the title race, but unless they can sort out their home form, they almost certainly will not win the league. Highlands Park are the next visitors to Bidvest Stadium on Wednesday night, and Wits will be provided with another test of finding a way to break down opponents happy to keep plenty of men behind the ball.
Six Absa Premiership victories in a row have pushed Orlando Pirates so far up the table that they are now sitting on the tail of Kaizer Chiefs, and have every chance of winning the title. It seemed ridiculous to even think of Pirates as title challenges in December, as Rulani Mokwena’s ill-fated reign left them the laughing stock of Soweto. Josef Zinnbauer has come in, however, and has masterminded an astonishing turnaround, with six wins on the spin and seven in eight matches launching the Buccaneers towards what could suddenly be a successful season. In fairness, Zinnbauer was helped by inheriting one of the most talented squads in the land, many of whom came close to the title in two seasons under Milutin Sredojevic. But he has also got the most out of new additions like Gabadinho Mhango, whose 14 goals have provide Pirates with the regular input from a striker that most successful sides need. Pirates are even starting to have the luck when their strikers do not fire, an own goal giving them a win over Black Leopards in Thohoyandou on Sunday.
Josef Zinnbauer, coach of Orlando Pirates, celebrates during the Absa Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and Highlands Park on 18 January 2020 at Orlando Stadium, Pic BackpagePix
Maritzburg are turning on the magic again
It is only two seasons since Fadlu Davids had Maritzburg United firing on all cylinders, finishing fourth in the Absa Premiership and reaching the Nedbank Cup final, playing some of the league’s most scintillating football along the way. A season of misery followed, starting with Davids leaving and ending with Eric Tinkler just about keeping the team in the top flight via the play-offs. This season, however, after a slow start, Tinkler has the Team of Choice ticking again, with a run that has seen them lose just three of 22 games in all competitions, reaching the Telkom Knockout final, and this week pretty much topping that by winning away at title challengers Bidvest Wits and Kaizer Chiefs in the space of a few days. Rushine De Reuck has emerged as one of the best centre backs in the country, while Thabiso Kutumela is finding his best form again and even Jeremy Brockie has finally broken his goal drought. Tinkler, meanwhile, is again proving himself an astute coach, and one of the most underrated this country has to offer.
