City, Ajax have a shot at redemption
THE good thing about football is that there’s always another game. It may be a popular coach’s cliche that “you’re only as good as your last game”, but it’s a truism that definitely has its roots in truthfulness.
For Ajax Cape Town and Cape Town City, there is much comfort to be found in those words. At both Cape PSL clubs, there is sure to be an abundance of red faces, especially after ignominious exits in the Nedbank Cup to lower-tier amateur sides.
While both Ajax and City made a number of changes to their starting teams – to allow others an opportunity for game time – it doesn’t provide any excuse for defeat. Depth is vital to any top-flight club.
Throughout the season, both Cape sides have spoken highly about the fact that they believe they have sufficient quality in reserve to cope with the hurly-burly of the PSL season. After losing to little-known Second Division campaigners KwaDukuza United (Ajax) and Acornbush United (City), the jury is out on whether they have the depth to sustain their objectives: In City’s case, a title challenge; for Ajax, to avoid an embarrassing relegation fight.
But, in football, there’s always an opportunity for redemption, a chance to make amends after a poor performance. With both Ajax and City in league action this week, they can quickly put the Cup aberration behind, and use the upcoming fixtures to get back on track.
Ajax host Free State Stars at the Athlone Stadium on Friday night (8pm kickoff) – and, for the Capetonians, nothing less than a win will suffice. Their log position is starting to get a touch precarious.
The Urban Warriors are in 12th position on the standings, while Ea Lla Koto are 14th. Needless to say, this game is a real scrap for points, and topflight survival.
In the defeat to KZN’s KwaDukuza, Ajax coach Stanley Menzo had key defenders Rivaldo Coetzee and Mosa Lebusa out injured. Ghanaian Lawrence Lartey and Zimbabwean Erick Chipeta were paired in central defence, while teenager Yagan Sasman was roped in at left-back to fill in for Lebusa.
The Ajax coach also left out both wingers – Thabo Mosadi and Mark Mayambela – to allow them some rest. He wanted to have a look at a few other players – and he challenged those coming in to show him that they are ready. As it turned out, it doesn’t appear that they were able to rise to the occasion.
Now, with an important game against Stars coming up, no doubt Menzo will revert to his strongest selection.
For City, after coming up short against Mpumalanga side Acornbush, Saturday’s PSL encounter against Bloemfontein Celtic takes on even greater significance.
Not only is it a case of shaking off the shame of the Cup defeat, there is also no room for error for teams at the top of the log.
Second-placed City are level on points with log leaders Wits, on 38 points, but with SuperSport United, Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns all in close proximity at the summit, a win is crucial for the Capetonians to maintain their title challenge.
Celtic, meanwhile, are stuck in 13th position. They’ll be desperate for points, and they’ll be eager to impress their new coach, Belgian Luc Eymael. JOHANNESBURG: Pitso Mosimane was right in his statement that only Mamelodi Sundowns can beat the Brazilians. Sundowns are their own worst enemy, especially in situations where they should cruise to victory.
Last night, Sundowns once again made things hard for themselves, huffing and puffing against a coach-less Polokwane City team that looked there for the taking.
The Sundowns coach had made four changes to the team that narrowly beat Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) on Friday in the Caf Champions League. Kennedy Mweene, Fares Hachi, Lucky Mohomi and Sibusiso Vilakazi replaced Wayne Sandilands, Tebogo Langerman, Tiyani Mabunda and Thapelo Morena.
Rise and Shine made it three matches without a win last night, earning a huge point from a team led by Africa’s Coach of the Year. Despite the chaos in their camp, Rise and Shine played with a lot of composure and calmness. Their persistence forced Sundowns to make unnecessary mistakes at the back. What helped Polokwane’s confidence is that goalkeeper George Chigova kept bailing them out when Sundowns looked certain to score.
Chigova and company didn’t mind that Sundowns had most of the ball. They defended in large numbers to counter Downs’ attacking threat, making it hard for the Brazilians to penetrate them with their intricate touches. Vilakazi was at the heart of most of those passes, easily evading Polokwane’s defence, but he was replaced by Anthony Laffor just before the end of the first half.
The longer the score remained goalless, the more confident Polokwane got. That confidence was evident in their attack. Walter Musona almost helped Rise and Shine steal all three points after a clever turn to evade Sundowns’ defenders, before unleashing a curled shot that needed Mweene to fully stretch to keep it out.