Royal AM, ‘Amakhosi’ fire blanks in Pietermaritzburg
SOCCER
Royal AM ........................... 0 Kaizer Chiefs ..................... 0
PIETERMARITZBURG – Upon their return to DStv Premiership action, Kaizer Chiefs failed to make it four wins on the spin following their 0-0 draw with Royal AM at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg yesterday afternoon.
The stalemate saw the Glamour Boys remain in sixth place on the table, while Thwihli Thwahla ended the week in 14th place, just six points off the relegation playoff position.
Royal AM troubled the Chiefs backline early on and made a couple of box entries inside the first five minutes of the match.
Playing on the back foot, Amakhosi struggled to make their way out of their half as a result of Royal’s swift start to the game.
Chiefs began seeing more of the ball after the 10-minute mark and found good passing rhythms when going forward.
However, Royal looked dangerous on the break and continued to create goalscoring opportunities.
Ashley Du Preez was afforded a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 23rd minute, after he nearly capitalised on poor man marking by the Royal AM defence on the half-way line.
With a long ball played into the Royal half, Du Preez found himself in a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Hugo Nyame, but fluffed his lines with a wayward chip.
While the home side applied plenty of pressure throughout after Du Preez’s attempt, Nyame pulled off a fine save on the stroke of halftime to keep his side in the game.
Much like in the first half, Chiefs began the subsequent 45 on the backfoot. Thwihli Thwahla looked lively when taking the game to the Glamour Boys defence, as Amakhosi were reduced to defending their quarters early on.
Du Preez came close to scoring for his side soon after the hour mark, however, the Royal AM goalkeeper did well to keep the speedy attacker at bay with a crucial save in a oneon-one situation.
Amakhosi battled to get into the game for much of the second half and often looked out of creative ideas in attack.