Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Expect usual drama in Soweto derby, though goals might be in short supply
ANOTHER day, another derby. The coming together of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 semi-finals has set up the reality that come the end of this campaign, there could have been as many as eight games between the two Soweto teams.
As much as one might mock the gimmick that is the Carling Black Label Cup, it is there on the domestic calendar, Chiefs emerging as 1-0 victors in front of a sellout crowd.
Two league derbies will follow this two-legged semi-final, and if Pirates and Chiefs meet in the Telkom Knock-Out and Nedbank Cup, by no means an impossibility, Amakhosi and the Buccaneers will have enough familiarity to breed bucketfuls of contempt.
Then again, the Soweto derby these days is more grounded on friendly rivalry than hatred. And critics can moan of overkill, but no sponsor is going to complain as long as fans continue to flood to the derby in their numbers.
FNB Stadium is likely to be packed again this afternoon, in the first leg of what promises to be a fascinating semi- final between Stuart Baxter’s Chiefs and Roger De Sa’s Pirates.
Amakhosi have usurped domestic domination from Pirates under Baxter, completing a league and Cup double last season, and starting this campaign as if intent on repeating the trick. They come into today’s Cup game on the back of two opening league wins, as well as that Black Label Cup success, without a goal conceded.
Pirates’ own start to the new campaign has been slightly more erratic, an opening league defeat to AmaZulu and an edgy MTN8 quarter- final win over SuperSport countered by a couple of scintillating displays in the CAF Champions League.
If Pirates can translate the form they have shown against Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek, in 3-0 and 4-1 batterings, they ought to have a highly successful domestic season too.
This afternoon, however, is unlikely to be a place for a cascade of goals from either side. The first leg of any two-legged encounter is often cagey, and for these sides, holding their own ahead of next month’s second leg is likely to be the main priority.
Soweto derbies are rarely goalfests these days, and the best indicator for this game may well be the 2010 MTN8 semi- final between the two, where a 1-1 draw left the match delicately balanced for the second leg.
As it was, a fortuitous goal off Katlego Mashego’s behind saw Pirates into the final, and helped spark their first of consecutive treble-winning seasons.
On such fortune can derbies be decided, as Chiefs might testify from the Black Label final this year, where Lehlohonolo Majoro’s winner was offside.
There were two draws between the sides in last season’s league encounters, and the safe bet would probably be on another stalemate this afternoon.
“It is a big mountain for us to climb,” said Buccaneers captain Lucky Lekgwathi. We lost to them in the Black Label Cup so we just want to make sure we bring the bragging rights back and make our supporters happy.”