Khune backs his defence
Chiefs skipper confident the team can close down Sundowns
KAMLESH GOSAI
THE Absa Premiership top eight tussle between Maritzburg United and Chippa United ended in a tight 1-1 tie at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg last night.
A goal apiece in the second half from Evans Rusike for Maritzburg and Mxolisi Macuphu for the visitors left the sides entrenched in the top half of the standings.
A busy first half surprisingly ended goalless with balls cleared off the line, a penalty saved and a few crunching tackles in between as the top eight foes tore into each other at pace.
There was an interesting battle on the left where Chippa’s new man from Mamelodi Sundowns, Algerian Fares Hachi, connected with ex-Maritzburg playmaker Kurt Lentjies to hit the home side on the counter.
That’s where the penalty materialised as Hachi’s cross was blocked by defender Brian Onyango’s trailing arm.
Fortunately for the home group Ghanaian No 1 Richard Ofori stood tall in a battle of West Africa against Chippa’s Nigerian captain James Okwuosa to parry the grounder midway through the half.
It was story of misses which stretched into the second period as Lebohang Maboe curled a solo effort into goalie Daniel Akpeyi’s gloves.
The introduction of Thabo Rakhale gave the Chippa frontline some zip and meant extra work for Onyango, Siyanda Xulu and newcomer Rushine De Reuck in the home defence.
Former Orlando Pirates man Rakhale had hardly settled in and Maritzburg made the visitors rue their penalty miss when Zimbabwean Rusike broke the deadlock in the 64th minute.
Hardly 10 minutes later Chippa’s fight bore fruit with Mxolisi Macuphu sneaking ahead of De Reuck to beat Ofori with a shot across goal for the leveller.
IF THE Kaizer Chiefs defence, one that is among the best in the Absa Premiership this season, drops its guard tonight against log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns then goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune will have his hands full.
Khama Billiat, Jeremy Brockie, Sibusiso Vilakazi and their leading sharpshooter Percy Tau descend on FNB Stadium looking to not only stretch the Brazilians’ dominance at the summit, but to also end a three-season long winless run at this venue.
Khune is well aware of Sundowns’ firepower.
“We need to be specific in our planning – how we are going to close them down,” the Amakhosi goal minder and skipper said this week. “We know that as soon as they jump the halfway line it’s music and we are going to have to dance to their tune. We must defend well. But I trust our players. I trust my defenders.”
Defending is something Chiefs have done exceptionally well this season even though they have been unfortunate not to be complemented by their attacking department. Prior to last night’s round of matches, Amakhosi had the second best defensive record in the league behind Maritzburg United, who were hosting Chippa United.
“All we will require on the night is a lot of communication,” Khune added. “It’s not a major concern that they can score from anywhere.
“I think at Chiefs our weapon, and I am exposing secrets here, is that we believe the first offender must be the first defender, so whichever area the player loses the ball in, he must be the first one to press before the opponent picks up their heads and picks out the pass. That has worked very well.
“I am aware of Hlompho Kekana’s long range shots. I will just have to be on top of my game.”
While Khune sounded confident that Chiefs can get all three points and close the gap at the top down to just two points, Sundowns – led by coach Pitso Mosimane – have given the impression they will be underdogs at FNB Stadium, going as far as claiming they are “scared” of Amakhosi.
It appears the players have also picked up on this.
“We are going to give them the respect they deserve,” said their captain Kekana. “They can hurt you there (FNB Stadium), and we have lost for two seasons in a row. They are capable of winning these big matches at any time. We want to close down their front two in Leonardo Castro and Gustavo Paez. We need to be cautious. We can’t be naïve.”
Although giving off a timid vibe when publicly talking about facing Chiefs away from home, the midfielder did not play down the significance of the fixture in the title race.
“Obviously we are not going to win the championship by just winning this game. But it is one we need to try and get the three points as a club. For us as players, we want to feel good and finally put one over Chiefs,” Kekana said.
“There are so many expectations. The game itself has got its own hype. It’s clear to us that if we don’t win at FNB, we must not lose. Maybe we have to dig deep.”