SMASH AND GRAB
Chiefs silence critics as Paez becomes their messiah . . . now the league fight is on
STEVE Komphela stressed the point that Kaizer Chiefs fans shouldn’t see Gustavo Paez as some sort of messiah for their misfiring strikers when the Venezuelan was unveiled earlier this year. But that sentiment took a backseat last night from Komphela and the Chiefs fans after Paez helped them beat Mamelodi Sundowns to move to second place.
Paez didn’t exactly score the winning goal but he pressured Soumahoro Bangaly to make the mistake that resulted in him scoring an own goal. Komphela wildly celebrated that goal and his first victory at Amakhosi over his former Bafana Bafana teammate Pitso Mosimane.
It was a big win for Chiefs, destroying the myth that they lack big match temperament. It also cemented their place as genuine title contenders. But the title ambitions of these two teams rests on how they handle their contrasting workloads with the desire to succeed the same.
Chiefs, who don’t have any continental obligations, are driven by the desire to wrestle the league back from Sundowns and avoid what would be a huge setback for them of finishing two successive seasons without a trophy.
Their biggest problem is that they struggle to kill off games, which has led to them drawing games that they could have won. This was almost another draw had it not been for the late own goal.
Sundowns’ character will be tested in the final stretch that sees them compete on three fronts – the league, Nedbank Cup and CAF Champions League. They have struggled to play catch-up, dropping points that could cost them at the end.
These two clubs mirrored their coaches’ characteristics. Chiefs – led by the gentleman that is Komphela, in a clean-cut suit – were like an orchestra. Everything was done with precision, from the pressing game to the structure they maintained in defence.
That’s how they equalised through the boot of Bernard Parker after a well-worked move that ended with Parker squeezing the ball between the post and Kennedy Mweene just after the half-hour mark.
The Brazilians – led by the rabble-rouser in Mosimane, dressed in tracksuits and in-your face mentality – were a lot like kwaito. The edgy kind. Their attack is an organised chaos. They don’t have a traditional centre-forward. Percy Tau, Khama Billiat and Anthony Laffor roamed around the Chiefs box.
No one in that trio has a fixed position as they easily swapped roles. That’s how they took the lead through their talisman Billiat, on his return after a seven-match absence because of a leg injury.
Tau served as the decoy to give Billiat the slightest of spaces.
That space was all the Zimbabwean needed, threading a ball that was deflected to the back of the net.
Chiefs combated that with good timing from Erick Mathoho and Lorenzo Gordinho. When that didn’t work, they resorted to Willard Katsande’s brute force. The Zimbabwean brought the bass in Komphela’s orchestra. For the just over 45 000 fans here, this match was sweet music.
This victory was sweet for Chiefs because of two reasons. It pushed them to second place and stalled the rise of one of the title contenders.
These top of the league clashes, between the five title contenders, could decide where the league goes at the end of May.