Khune wants help stopping another long-range missile

TWICE this season, Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has been beaten with long-range strikes from outside the box, something that is unusual to a shot-stopper of his calibre.

It all started with a thunderous shot by Bloemfontein Celtic striker Helder Pelembe in their MTN8 semi- final first- leg encounter.

That strike was followed by a well-taken shot by Puleng Tlolane, who salvaged a 1- 1 draw for Polokwane City against Chiefs in a Premier Soccer League clash in midweek.

Heading into tonight’s second leg against Celtic at the FNB Stadium, Pelembe’s right foot must be itching to launch another blistering shot to beat Khune again.

However, the Amakhosi No 1 says he has been working tirelessly at training to avoid being beaten by such goals, but he will also need his defence to give him a helping hand.

“Players are gaining more confidence shooting outside the box. But I have been working very hard at training with the rest of the team and it should be something we will fix going forward,” he said.

“But it is a collective effort; it is not only the goalkeeper who needs to deal with those shots, even the players need to press the guy on the ball early so that they can restrict him from getting a clear view of the goal post.’’

Khune reckons this is one game where Chiefs will have to remain stable at the back and make sure they don’t allow Phunya Sele Sele to catch them out with counter- attacks.

“It is very important for us as a team to keep a clean sheet,” he said. “We went away, we were 1- 0 down, but we

Ajax secure Langwe on loan from Wits

WITH the transfer window closing within the next few days, Ajax Cape earlier this week signed experienced 27-year-old defender Larry Cohen and midfielder Asive Langwe on a seasonlong loan from Wits.

Ajax head coach Roger de Sa rates Langwe, 22, highly. showed good character by coming back into the match and getting that important away goal. So now we hosting Celtic, we know how good they are.

“All the teams that we play against, they sit back, wait for us to counter them, and they turn our counter into their counter- attack.

“So it is going to be important that we remain disciplined and focused throughout 90 minutes and not concede any goal. If we don’t concede we are through to the final.”

The Bafana Bafana gloveman added: “We are all aware that each and every game we play in the MTN8 is worth R2million. At the moment we have R4m in the bag, we are just R4m way from completing the R8m.

“But it is not going to be easy, we know how good Celtic are. But they are coming to FNB – you know what happens when teams come to FNB...”

The Amakhosi were gifted two goals last time they played at home in a 4-0 win over Free State Stars in an PSL clash when Stars’ centre- backs Robert Sankara and Liberty Chokomora scored in their own net. It gave the Soweto giants the opportunity to record their first victory in the league this campaign.

Khune says this season’s performance has started on a low scale, but it is something the whole team is trying to address.

“We are not happy with the way we have started. If you remember well last season when we started the MTN8, we went all the way to the final without conceding any goal and this season we started very badly,” he said.

“We conceded four already in the same tournament. So we can improve on that, it will start today.”

“Asive is a player who will add great quality to our squad. He gives us an option on either wings, and we believe he will be a great benefit in helping us with what we are trying to achieve this season,” Ajax Cape Town chief executive Ari Efstathiou said. – Rodney Reiners