Pirates need to outgun Chiefs
Bragging rights are one thing at stake in the Soweto Derby but collecting three points in order to stay in the PSL hunt is the real quest for Pirates tomorrow.
By Mark Gleeson
Tomorrow’s Soweto Derby is not only about bragging rights for the fans of two of the country’s top teams, but also key in the battle for the Premier Soccer League title as the season heads towards the twothirds mark.
Pirates have a chance at Soccer City to extend to 12 matches their unbeaten run against Chiefs and, in so doing, set a record in the almost 50-year and 165-game history of the derby.
But Pirates will likely be much more interested in chasing the three points on offer, which will keep them on the tails of Bidvest Wits, who play at the same time away against Highlands Park in Tembisa.
Wits have a seven-point lead going into the latest round of league games this weekend, but have played one match more. Their clash at the Makhulong Stadium is their 20th of the season with the derby marking game 19 of the league campaign for the Buccaneers.
Chiefs are back in sixth place, but only 10 points behind Wits, and many of their ardent supporters will be hoping a run of positive results, allied with inconsistent returns for the other contenders, could suddenly catapult Chiefs to the top.
There is that possibility since Ernst Middendorp arrived, but while the German has got Chiefs playing with more structure, they have not showed the requisite mental strength at vital junctures in recent weeks.
They lost to Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City because of horror goalkeeper errors and were disappointingly bundled out of the African Confederation Cup by Zambia’s Zesco United.
Daniel Akpeyi will debut tomorrow as Chiefs new gloveman, hastily bought from Chippa United to solve the crisis at the club as Virgil Vries has proven unable to adequately fill the boots of injured Itumeleng Khune.
Akpeyi is a quality custodian and will be difficult for Pirates to beat. But the Buccaneers anyway have to focus more on their finishing ability after spending much of the season perfecting the art of missing gilt-edged chances!
More often than not over the last decade, the derby has been an uninspiring draw. There are hopes this is not the case tomorrow, but there is every chance it will be given what is at stake.
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