Kaizer Chiefs proved a little too strong for their bitter rivals Orlando Pirates in the Castle Premiership encounter played at a packed FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Chiefs’ 1-0 victory was their second triumph over their Soweto counterparts this season after having run away with the first game 2-0.
However, in a crunch encounter where the winner would take all, including the bragging rights, the game deteriorated into a boring and technically advanced affair similar to a heavyweight boxing slug-fest.
Both defences were hardly made to break into a sweat as incomplete passes and wayward shots at goal became the order of the day.
While on numerous occasions both sides had enough opportunities to land the ball in the back of the net with minimal effort, both sets of players seemed to search for that glorious and thunderous strike.
Pirates midfielder Benedict Vilakazi was the first culprit on this disastrous goal-deprived day as the diminutive maestro headed just wide in the 11th minute.
A few minutes later, Chiefs striker David Radebe also misdirected his header.
The breakthrough finally came in the 25th minute when Chiefs’ David Obua’s accurately placed header sailed past Pirates goalkeeper Francis Chansa.
It was Obua’s second goal this season, the first having come in the opening Soweto derby in October.
That was all Chiefs needed to secure the three points and edge ever closer to the top of the log where Pirates are uncomfortably perched.
And like a boxer beaten in the opening rounds, Pirates could only resort to cheap body shots as their goal poachers desperately tried to score from a distance.
In the dying minutes, a clearly rattled Pirates outfit tried to mount a last-gasp effort but it was all too little, too late, as their quest to finally clinch the league title looked as dead as their famous skeleton emblem.
On the other hand, Chiefs looked like a team hauled back from the clutches of losing their league title and could be well on course to capturing a record-equalling third consecutive league championship. — Sapa