There was little argument that the reckless tackle from Platinum Stars’ George Mofokeng that resulted in the twice-taken, 62nd minute penalty from which Siphiwe Tshabalala gave Kaizer Chiefs a desperately-needed 1-0 Premier League win at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on Tuesday night.
But what seemed to get Matthew Dyer into hot water and have Stars coach Steve Khomphela and his players spitting fire in a largely uninspiring encounter was the fact that the self-same Tshabalala had committed an equally blatant infringement barely seconds earlier, yet had gone unpunished by the referee.
Chiefs only managed to open the scoring on the second attempt at the penalty kick, after it needed to be retaken due to Stars’ players venturing into the area.
And with this stroke of good fortune, The Amakhosi moved away from the embarrassing bottom position in the PSL log in a match that can hardly be described as a soccer classic, and that ended with the irate Khomphela being sent off the pitch as his anger boiled over.
It was a classic case of a referee losing confidence momentarily — much like a player might — and then making a decision that was spot-on, but cruelly unjust for the hard-working Stars.
Indeed on the overall run of play, it was Stars who looked likelier to score, particularly in the opening period when an indiscriminating Lobo twice squandered scoring opportunities with the goal at his mercy.
The modest crowd emphasised The Amakhosi’s loss of appeal and indicated that the team is only at the stuttering first step on the
revival road with only the surprisingly late introduction of the bustling Nkosinathi Nhleko adding punch to their waning power. — Sapa