It hardly required a soothsayer to forecast the goalless draw in the Premier League game between ”goalless-draw champions” Santos and Kaizer Chiefs at a windswept Athlone Stadium on Sunday evening.
Both sides recorded their seventh draw in 12 games, with many of these matches ending goalless as well — although it needs to be recorded that Santos were infinitely the more enterprising team in a frantic, but futile encounter and can consider themselves somewhat unlucky not to have secured all three points.
Hesitant finishing, in the opening period in particular, was their bugbear and Chiefs often held out on a wing and a prayer as a square-shaped defence floundered in the conditions.
”We played against the wind in the first half,” complained Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral afterwards, ”and could not master it. Then we played with the wind in our favour in the second period and again we could not master it.
”Santos were more familiar with the tricky conditions,” added the Chiefs’ coach, ”but they failed to take advantage of their opportunities.”
Also blown over, so to speak, was referee Daniel Bennett who was a good distance away from the action when players from both teams committed glaring infringements.
But, perhaps, the soccer gods reasoned that teams so wasteful with scoring chances did not deserve the chance of scoring on a plate.
Chiefs have now drawn both games since their success in the Telkom Knockout Final. That match against troubled Mamelodi Sundowns was also a goalless encounter and only decided in a penalty shoot-out — indicating that nothing has changed.
With a mere two wins each from their 11 matches, Santos and Chiefs remain deadlocked in the lower regions of the PSL log with 13 out of a possible 36 points. – Sapa