Two historical events occurred in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) match between Santos and Kaizer Chiefs that Santos comfortably won 3-1 in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
The half-time score was 1-1.
History was made when for the first time a woman, Deidre Mitchell, refereed a PSL game. The second event, of lesser importance, was the fact that ”the People’s Team” beat Chiefs for the first time since the 1998/99 season when they triumphed 4-2.
Amakhosi, without injured captain Cyril Nzama and midfielder Tinashe Nengomasha, were vulnerable at the back and Roger de Sa’s charges put pressure on the Chiefs defence from the start.
However, it was Chiefs who opened the scoring in the fourth minute. The goal came from a corner kick by Gerald Sibeko, who found the head of defender David Obua. Obua flicked the ball on to the unmarked Ditheko Mototo who then beat Santos goalkeeper Wayne Roberts with a fine header.
But the never-say-die attitude of Santos saw them equalise seven minutes later via striker Romano Scott. Jimmy Tau’s back pass was not strong enough for rushing goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez, with Scott nipping in to equal the score.
The goal roused the Amakhosi players but they became over-robust and referee Mitchell was forced to book Tau, Seboko, Siyabonga Nkosi and striker Shaun Bartlett in the space of 27 minutes.
Santos were also on the receiving end of Mitchell’s wrath when Thembile Konono was booked in the 36th minute.
Chiefs were lucky when Scott fumbled in the box in the 38th minute with only Fernadez to beat. Three minutes before the break Konono also had a chance but his strike sailed over the crossbar.
A minute into the second half Santos striker Elezar Rogers scored their second goal after beating Chiefs’ sluggish defender Fabien McCarthy and the ever-erratic Tau.
Santos were now in full control of the game and Chiefs coach Kosta Papic tried to diffuse the Santos surge by introducing right wing Arthur Zwane for Sibeko in the 59th minute and striker Serge Djiehoua for Louis Agyeman.
In the 64th minute Chiefs fans smiled when Papic introduced Emmanuel Ngobese for Obua.
De Sa then made a crucial substitution of his own in the 79th minute when he replaced Konono with Ryan Chapman. With his first touch of the ball Chapman scored the third goal for Santos, putting the result beyond doubt.
Chiefs had a goal disallowed in the dying minutes when Siyabonga Nkosi’s indirect free kick found the back of the net but was deemed illegal after the ball failed to touch a second player. — Sapa