Old guard does it for Chiefs
WITS WIPE THE FLOOR WITH AJAX
BidvestWits(2) ................. 5 Mahlambi 20, Hlatshwayo 31, Mhango 59, 78, Keene 61 Ajax Cape Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
IT’S clear now why Gavin Hunt, a man stingy with compliments, describes this Wits attack as the best the club has had in his almost four-year tenure. You can even go as far as to say that this is the best attack Wits have had in the last decade. Ajax won’t dispute this drubbing.
Hunt gushes just at the mention of Gabadinho Mhango, Eleazer Rodgers, Cuthbert Malajila, James Keene and Phakamani Mahlambi.
Last night Hunt started with his trusted lieutenants in Mahlambi and Keene for the first time this season. The pair spent the better part of last year nursing injuries. It didn’t take them long to click.
They harassed Ajax with Mahlambi’s speed and skills, complimented by Keene’s intelligence and high work rate.
The Urban Warriors’ coach, Stanley Menzo, couldn’t take the torment and replaced centreback Lawrence Lartey with Roscoe Pietersen a minute before half-time. Lartey had struggled to handle Mahlambi and Keene.
Hunt wanted his team to be quicker in their approach and press the visitors.
Mahlambi and Keene did that well. They pressured Ajax into making mistakes. That’s how the first goal came.
Keene harassed, then Mahlambi used his skills to zip past Ajax defenders. Mosa Lebusa stretched his limbs to their maximum to force a corner. But that was denying the inevitable. Thulani Hlatshwayo headed in Mogakolodi Ngele’s delivery to put Wits in control.
Mhango tightened the grip, scoring with his first touch before completing a brace. He did all of that playing from the bench. Keene scored his first of the season between Mhango’s goals.
The Capetonians never showed up. This wasn’t the Ajax that finished last year with back-to-back wins over Bloemfontein Celtic and Chippa United without conceding.
Last night they struggled to find their bearings. Granwald Scott, making his Wits debut against the club he was synonymous with, covered almost every inch of the Clever Boys’ half, bullying his former teammates with ease.
The scary thing about this Wits wasn’t so much the victory, but their bench, oozing with quality in Daine Klate, Mhango, Malajila Moeneeb Josephs and Xola Mlambo. That depth will come in handy from now until June as Wits will be competing on three fronts – the league, CAF Champions League and the Nedbank Cup.
It’s the league they desperately want.
In Soweto, Kaizer Chiefs thumped a hapless Free State Stars 3-1 outfit to stretch their winning streak, since their December victory over Golden Arrows, to three matches.
Critics will point to the calibre of the opposition – a Free State Stars team third from bottom and with a new coach in Serame Letsoaka – in trying to make light of this Kaizer Chiefs’ victory at FNB Stadium last night.
But it was polished nonetheless. The old guard in Siphiwe Tshabalala and Bernard Parker helped Amakhosi go into the break with a healthy 2-0 lead.
Tshabalala had netted a stunning free kick in the 18th minute, giving goalkeeper Thela Ngobeni, who has had a pretty decent season even with his side’s awful run in the league up to now, no choice.
Parker initially fluffed his attempt from the spot kick saved, only to convert on the rebound.
Applause, instead of the usual boos, reverberated around this venue at halftime.
Chiefs continued to dominate terms in the second half, with Willard Katsande scoring a beautifully worked solo goal to make it 3-0.
Stars, the visitors, were never a threat even after pulling one back through defender Rooi Mahamutsa’s clever low free kick to beat goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.
But what that goal highlighted was Amakhosi’s poor reaction when they concede.
It would have been a massive confidence-booster to hammer a Stars team clearly in disarray and there for the taking.
That might have really sent a statement of intent to their title rivals Cape Town City, SuperSport United and Bidvest Wits.