The blunders of befuddled referee Charl Theron and a potentially horrific injury to Orlando Pirates goalkeeping prospect Senzo Mayiwa cast a pall of apprehension over the Buccaneers’ 2-1 Premier Soccer League victory over luckless AmaZulu at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.
Mayiwa was stretchered off the pitch and rushed to hospital after a crunching collision with AmaZulu’s Mpho Maleka in the 61st minute resulted in the 19-year-old goalkeeper losing his footing in mid-air and falling on his neck.
Anxious Pirates officials said after the game that they were still waiting for information from the hospital on the extent of Mayiwa’s disturbing mishap.
It always leaves a bad taste when a soccer game is decided by a referee’s mistake, but in this instance Theron made what appeared a double error in awarding Pirates a 70th-minute penalty from what was a questionable infringement — with the incident in question involving the Buccaneers’ Tefera Fikru also taking place outside the penalty area.
Composed Zambian international Isaac Chansa scored his second goal of the game with an unstoppable scorcher from the penalty spot to make the score 2-1 and shade Theron as Pirates’ man of the match.
Theron, however, may well have blotted his copybook further when he demonstrated a glaring inconsistency by booking an AmaZulu player 10 minutes later for feigning an infringement in the penalty area.
And it was little wonder that Pirates officials commiserated with AmaZulu and former Bafana coach Clive Barker afterwards.
Pirates, notwithstanding the incidents that marred the match, were the more accomplished team and fully deserved to take the lead in the 37th minute through a breathtakingly engineered goal by Chansa.
But AmaZulu were on level terms in the 51st minute via a scrambled close-range goal from Maleka and the game appeared to be heading for a draw until Theron’s untimely intervention.
Finally, Jabu Mahlangu provided one of the highlights of an incident-packed game deep into in referee’s optional time with a dazzling solo run and stunning shot that was barely saved and was deserving of a goal. — Sapa