Chiefs almost impossible to catch
IT will be difficult to catch Absa Premiership leaders Kaizer Chiefs with the form they are showing at the moment, Moroka Swallows coach Zeca Marques says.
He was speaking after his team’s 2-0 defeat to Amakhosi at Dobsonville Stadium on Friday night.
Chiefs rolled to an eighth victory in a row, and closed to within three of Mamelodi Sundowns’ record of 11, with a slick and at times stylish deconstruction of Swallows, thanks to goals in each half from Kingston Nkhatha and Knowledge Musona.
Marques, who saw his side put in a fighting performance but ultimately outplayed, said Chiefs stood a good chance of defending their PSL title.
“You know the way they’re going, and us letting them win like this, we might as well give them the trophy now,” the Birds coach said.
“The exciting thing for Chiefs is that winning gives you confidence and you become unstoppable and untouchable. And I know every win is a building block to getting closer and closer to the championship.
“You’ve got to put things in perspective. When Chiefs beat Sundowns away and come to Swallows and put in a great performance, sometimes they don’t play well for 90 minutes but they take their chances and that’s what makes a good team.
“At this stage, from what I’ve seen in the league, if they win it again I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Chiefs have achieved their run while improving in fluency from a patchy start to the season, and Friday’s performance was close to the impressive form Amakhosi showed in the first two-thirds of last season.
“We have been taking each game as it comes,” Amakhosi coach Stuart Baxter said.
“Eight wins in a row is the most in Chiefs’ history. And that gives you confidence. But I’m really trying, and I think it’s a bit of a South African trait, to make sure we don’t get carried away. I think you’ve constantly got to be pulling people back to the ground.
“People keep referring to last season in terms of quality play, and I have to say the games that we’ve experienced are not the same as last season. Swallows don’t treat us the same as they did last season.
“Zeca knows when we’re going forward that if he splits his wing pair, and parks them behind our full-backs, that’s an exit for him. And they didn’t do that last year.
“So everyone’s worked out the way we play. And what I’ve enjoyed about the players this year is the way they’ve adapted. You can still see what we did last year, but you’re not going to get given it.
“I think the quality of the play in almost every game has almost reached last season.
“I thought tonight [Friday], because it was a derby game going backwards and forwards, and Swallows having to come at us, you probably saw it a bit more.”
Chiefs will have Katlego Mphela, signed on loan from Mamelodi Sundowns on the last day of the transfer window on Friday, as an option adding depth in the second half of the season.
“If teams drop off us and don’t come out and attack us, and we have to pick our way through when there’s no space behind, Kingston Nkhatha, George Lebese, Mandla Masango, they’re all quick and time their movements,” the coach said.
“When people are not giving us that space it’s going to be interesting to work with people like Knowledge and Katlego, to find the pockets of space in front of the opposition backline and get strikes off from there. I’m hoping Katlego will be a string to our bow that we don’t have at the moment.”
Chiefs, will aim for win No 9 against SuperSport United in Polokwane on Wednesday. A victory will extend Amakhosi’s lead over second-placed Matsatsantsa by even more than their current 10 points.