No joy for Chippa
Chiefs lucky to draw with lively Chilli Boys
In the end Kaizer Chiefs escaped with a point from their second Absa Premiership game behind closed doors at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday evening, but Chippa United could justifiably feel hard done by with a 0-0 scoreline.
Chiefs were never relishing this second and final game in KwaZulu-Natal behind closed doors – part of the sentence for last season’s pitch invasion by their fans that followed their 2-0 Nedbank Cup semifinal defeat against Free State Stars at Moses Mabhida.
Their previous game in an empty Mabhida had ended in a 1-0 defeat against Polokwane City on October 6.
Even with the excuse of lacking their normally vocal support, though, this was not a night that Chiefs or their coach, Giovanni Solinas, will look back on with any fondness.
Amakhosi showed hardly any stomach for their odious task. If anything it was goalkeeper and captain Itumeleng Khune who often kept his team in the game as Eric Tinkler’s far more lively Chippa manufactured the greater proportion of chances.
Chippa had one of these when right-back Zita Macheke broke from deep in his half, then fed Kurt Lentjies through to square for Lerato Manzini, alone and with space in front of goal. He mis-hit a weak shot.
Their best chance of the half came when Pule Ekstein teed up George Maluleka on the edge of the box. He struck powerfully to force a save by Daniel Akpeyi.
Chippa grew in strength in the second. They should have opened the scoring in the opening 10 minutes of it, Chiefs defender Siyabonga Ngezana denying the Port Elizabeth team twice.
Ruzaigh Gamildien intercepted in midfield and played Thabo Rakhale down the left, Ngezana recovering for a lastditch challenge at the former Pirates midfielder’s feet.
From the resultant corner, big Burundian centre-back Frederic Nsabiyumva got up to glance a header at the near post, this time Ngezana getting the clearing header off the goalline.
Influential Gamildien again provided a clever throughpass, this time for Manzini, who squeezed a shot that forced Khune into a sharp stop.
Soon afterwards, Tinkler replaced Manzini with bigger namesake Rhulani Manzini.
Stranger, though, was the removal of Gamildien for Mark Mayambela.
Defender Boikanyo Komane’s swerving drive was kept out at full stretch by Khune.