If anyone were under the impression that Kaizer Chiefs could not get worse following the summary sacking of maligned German coach Ernst Middendorp, they were wrong.
On a balmy, autumn afternoon at Loftus on Sunday, the Amakhosi hit rock bottom against a sprightly Black Leopards and plunged to a 2-0 defeat.
Had Leopards’ livewire striker Myron Shongwe matched his generally impressive performance with equally effective finishing, Leopards would have devoured Chiefs bones and all and won by a margin of six goals or more.
When it came to shooting, however, Shongwe squandered four gilt-edged opportunities — then, to add to his frustration, a shot from another straight-forward scoring chance thundered against the crossbar and bounced clear.
In mitigation, however, the dreadlocked Shongwe played a meaningful role in the smartly taken, 22nd-minute opening goal from Malawian Fisher Kondowe that started the Amakhosi on an irrevocable downward slide.
Solly Masango’s scrambled 74th-minute goal through a packed goal mouth of defenders finally assured Leopards of three points that appear to have elevated them from the stressful relegation zone, but it would have been an injustice had the result gone any other way.
Ironically, Chiefs reserved their best play for the four minutes of additional time added to the scheduled 90 minutes, with rusty Zambian striker Rotson Kilembe wasting two straightforward opportunities of reducing the deficit.
In the process, Chiefs have now slumped to seventh position on the log and are precariously placed to miss qualification for next season’s Supa8 competition in view of the fact that both Orlando Pirates and Bloemfontein Celtic have played fewer games.
Certainly the substitution of Serbian Kosta Papic as coach in place of Middendorp appears to have done nothing for the team, and Chiefs’ hierarchy will have to look elsewhere in order to discover the cause of the malaise in their ranks.
Chiefs looked as though they were merely going through the motions against Leopards and seemed to have badly underrated their opponents.
But it was a uniformly tough and flawless Leopards defence in which goalkeeper Mashud Mampitha performed with panache and aplomb. It contained the likes of Shaun Bartlett and Scara Ngobese, with only Arthur Zwane down the right flank occasionally threatening danger.
And when it came to subtle soccer, it was Leopards’ peroxided Tebogo Mashaba who taught the Chiefs’ ”fat cats” a thing or two about control, passing and when and to whom to release the ball.
Other matches
Meanwhile, Golden Arrows drew 1-1 with Supersport United at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The score was 1-1 at break. United scored in the sixth minute, with midfielder James Chamanga’s long shot beating Arrows goalkeeper Brendon Wardle hands down.
The home team, Abafana Basithenede, never gave up and regrouped well. They visited the United goal mouth on several occasions, looking for an equaliser that finally came two minutes before break. Arrows’ Vusi Muzi Vilikaze headed home the goal in the 43rd minute.
Although playing to a draw, Arrows are still a relegation candidate, unless they improve by collecting more points in the remaining four games.
At the Princess Magogo Stadium, Amazulu appeared to be coming out of their slump when they scored a well-deserved 3-1 win over Benoni Premier United in an action-packed showdown on Sunday afternoon.
Amazulu led 1-0 at interval. A solo effort by Kagiso Senamele saw Amazulu open the scoring in the first two seconds of the game. The pint-size midfielder out-dribbled half-a-dozen Benoni players and goalkeeper Noel Yabou from the centre line to push the ball into the empty net. — Sapa