Chiefs victory not enough for Komphela, while Pirates’ Micho backs Gabuza
KAIZER CHIEFS coach Steve Komphela was uncharacteristically critical of his players on Saturday evening after the Glamour Boys were made to sweat for their 1-0 victory over Platinum Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
“We finished our last game (a 1-0 defeat away to Chippa United on Wednesday) with great energy and I had expected the players to start this way,” Komphela (pictured) said shortly after a win that moved them up to second place on the PSL standings.
“I was asking them at half-time if the grass was too heavy because we couldn’t just flow. We couldn’t lift a foot. And in the dressing-room we had to talk earnestly and honestly, give feedback and truths.
“It then got a bit better.” BLOEMFONTEIN Celtic ended their four-match win-less streak by thrashing Free State Stars 3-0 in an Premiership match played in Bloemfontein yesterday.
Former Baroka FC goal-getter Victor Letsoalo was the hero for the hosts as he scored a goal in each half – a relief for Celtic, who haven’t scored in their past four matches. Celtic were the more attacking side throughout the derby and opened the scoring in
The introduction of veteran midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala in the second half spurred Chiefs on to end a winless streak that had stretched to five games when he scored with a diving header in the 72nd minute.
“I thought the energy brought on my Shabba (Tshabalala) and (Bernard) Parker was great and everybody should learn from that,” said an agitated looking Komphela.
“Listen, when you are at Chiefs, any team that plays against Chiefs brings their A-plus game.
“When I was not at Chiefs and coaching somewhere else, or before I played for Chiefs, I was high on concentration levels before our game against Chiefs. Now, if you away most of their opponents on the road. They have now collected 19 out of the possible 21 points on their travels.
Only Chippa United was able to resist the Sundowns army. They played out to 0-0 stalemate last week at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
On his way out
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane made one change to the team that humbled Baroka 4-0 mid-week at Lucas Moripe Stadium. Khama Billiat was omitted from the 18-man squad yesterday, and Oupa Manyisa was slotted in his place. Billiat is on his way ou t of Sundowns, with the club trying to sell him as soon as next month in order to cash in since his contract is set to expire in June.
Arrows coach Clinton Larsen, meanwhile, made three changes to the 30th minute when speedy Deon Hotto sent a ball into the box from the left, which Ndumiso Mabena flicked on for striker Letsoalo to fire into the roof of the net with his left foot, past keeper Badra Ali Sangare.
Stars attempted to get back into the game in the second half with their Ghanaian striker Mohammed Anas heading just over the crossbar from a corner, but thereafter it was a green-and-white Celtic onslaught.
After a spell of constant pressure on the Stars goal, midfielder face an enemy that’s better prepared and you are relaxed, you are going to suffer. Sometimes we tend not to respect the fact that we are at Chiefs and that challenges are immense. “We have to rise above and deal with it. I think that is one thing that we are missing, but we will get there.” Meanwhile, his Orlando Pirates counterpart Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic was on the defence following another negative reaction to striker Thamsanqa Gabuza failing to hit the target in their 1-1 draw at home against AmaZulu on the same night. Sredojevic called on the Ghost to support the beleaguered forward, arguing that he will repay them in style if they back him. Gabuza the team that lost 2-1 against Free State Stars on Wednesday.
In yesterday’s match Nkosingiphile Gumede gifted Abafana Ba Style an opportunity to go in front when he parried a Percy Tau corner straight to Soumahoro who capitalised on the poor clearance and slotted the ball into the net in the sixth minute.
This early goal gave Sundowns confidence as they dominated possession in a packed midfield.
Yet, despite enjoying the bulk of the possession the Brazillians failed to create meaningful chances to increase their lead. The Tshwane team had the post to thank in the 10th minute when Arrows’ Kudakwashe Mahachi unleashed a thunderbolt which left Denis Onyango shocked between the posts.
The Brazilians survived again in the 19th minute when Tebogo Langerman cleared Mahachi’s Lucky Baloyi fired a bullet-like effort into the back of the visitors’ net from 20 metres out to double the Celtic lead. More agony was to come the way of Stars when Letsoalo scored his second goal of the afternoon from close range.
Celtic could well have made close to double the scoreline had they taken all their chances.
At the other end of the park, there was precious little work for Celtic’s Cameroonian goalkeeper Patrick Tignyemb to do, with
Stars struggling to make any form of progress against the rampant has become the embodiment of the club’s woeful display in front of goal.
The Buccaneers’ centre forward has gone nine games without finding the back of the net since he scored a brace against Polokwane City in September. In those nine games, Pirates have scored just seven goals, which increases the pressure on Gabuza. But Sredojevic continued to back him even after the club’s stalemate with AmaZulu at Orlando Stadium.
A win for the Buccaneers would have given them a slender lead at the summit of the table.
The situation is so dire that Sredojevic said he was tempted to field three goalkeepers at training because if his team can score there, they can easily do so with one man in goal.
“He (Gabuza) is a darling of the team,” Sredojevic said.
“He is such a good, positive guy
THAT’S MY BOY: Mamelodi Sundowns’ Themba Zwane (right) congratulates Bangaly Soumahoro after scoring during yesterday’s Absa Premiership match against Golden Arrows at Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban. attempt on the line. Mahachi did find the back of the net in the 26th minute but he was judged to be off-side.
Arrows defence was tactically sound and resolute in open play and they held their lines well.
However, lack of concentration almost cost them as Vilakazi nearly netted the visitor’s second but his shot sailed wide.
Sundowns commenced the second half like a house on fire, but Gumede made a telling save to deny Kekana from set-play on 56th minutes. The keeper kept Arrows in the game with good saves during the second half, but their forwards were unable to pull them back into the game.
Sundowns will be looking to improve their home record when they take on Maritzburg United on Wednesday at Loftus Versfeld. The game will kick-off at 7.30pm. Celtic midfield.
Celtic, who followed their 1-0 loss in last weekend’s Telkom Knockout final against Bidvest Wits, with just 25 minutes of football in their mid-week league encounter against AmaZulu in Durban due to a water-logged pitch, now have 19 points from 12 games.
They will travel to Tshwane for a league fixture against in-form Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
Stars remain on 16 points from 13 games and will host Supersport United in a league game on Wednesday. – ANA that you can’t imagine. Thabo (Matlaba) is his good friend. He will also agree with me that he is a nice guy who is good for the team. He has a very positive attitude at training.
“All of us really wanted him to break this jinx. He scored two goals against Polokwane, but since then he has got many opportunities to score that he has missed.”
The point Pirates got from Usuthu keeps them with the leading pack in a season characterised by inconsistency.
Sredojevic has constantly said that they are a team in progress and doesn’t read much into their position. “Being at the top of the log is important but at the moment with so many teams with games in hand, we have no right to think about this (leading the pack),” Sredojevic said.
“We are thinking exclusively about ourselves. We want to solve the problems that we have.”