Orlando Pirates could be forced to face arch enemies Kaizer Chiefs in the Absa Premiership Soweto derby at the Mmabatho Stadium on Saturday afternoon without their midfield talisman, Teko Modise. The Bafana Bafana playmaker faces a late fitness test on an injured toe he sustained in last Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat against Platinum Stars at the Johannesburg Stadium.
With what constituted a classic Roy Of the Rovers underdog success, lower division MP Black Aces qualified for the lucrative Nedbank Cup final at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday afternoon after gaining a 1-0 victory over Free State Stars.
Ajax Cape Town’s hopes of winning the Absa Premiership were dealt a massive blow at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Wednesday night when defending champions Sundowns crushed the Urban Warriors 2-0. Sundowns led the match 2-0 at half-time.
Platinum Stars face the biggest match of their short history when they host the African club of the century, Al Ahly, in an African Champions League showdown at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday. Facing the holders of the Champions League title — arguably the best and most successful club side in Africa — does not scare Stars.
Luis Renteria netted a 55th-minute penalty on Monday evening to give Platinum Stars a 1-0 win against Moroka Swallows and move his team from 10th to fifth place on the Premier Soccer League table. Stars have 37 points and with this result pushed Swallows out of the top eight into ninth place.
Santos’ 10-week sequence without a defeat under Botswana Army coach Major David Bright was dimmed at Goble Park in Bethlehem on Sunday afternoon as Free State Stars earned a deserved 1-0 victory to qualify for the Nedbank Cup semifinals. Hero on this occasion was Jimmy Kauleza, who scored the solitary goal of the game in the 22nd minute.
Moroka Swallows coach Ian Gorowa and pivotal central defender Bevan Fransman will pay the penalty for their recent penalty protests in the controversial Premier Soccer League game against Kaizer Chiefs. One-game suspensions will sideline the two men for Monday’s key clash against Platinum Stars.
Ordinarily, this time of the football season would be about which of the traditional top-three teams are best placed to win the Premier Soccer League (PSL) championship. But it increasingly appears that not all, if any, of the three teams that have dominated the PSL honours will make it to the top eight of the log.
Free State Stars coach Kinnah Phiri is hoping that lightning will strike twice in the same place in one season when they host Santos in the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup at Goble Park on Sunday at 3pm. Stars are the only side to have beaten high-riding Santos in the Absa Premiership this year.
Two well taken second-half goals by Tsepo Ramokala earned Platinum Stars a hard-fought 2-1 win over a lethargic Wits in a disappointing Absa Premiership showdown played at Milpark on Wednesday night. Wits led 1-0 at half-time. The win boosted Stars’ hopes of qualifying for the top eight at the end of the season.
A fourth-minute strike by Jimmy Kauleza seemed to have paved the way for a Free State Stars victory, but a 69th-minute piledriver by Nhlanhla Shabalala got a much-needed point for league championship contenders Ajax Cape Town in an entertaining Absa Premiership match at the Welkom Rugby Stadium on Wednesday.
It afflicted Kaizer Chiefs and, for some time this season, it looked as though Mamelodi Sundowns were poised to be struck down as well by what has been called the curse of the top-eight competition. But currently out of the top eight, Sundowns have no intention to fall foul of the curse.
Wits coach Roger de Sa is hoping to put the cherry on top of a successful season when the Students host improved Platinum Stars at Milpark on Wednesday night (8pm). De Sa has done a fantastic job in rebuilding the side since the start of the Absa Premiership season for little cost.
The unpredictable Moroka Swallows were flying high after delivering a crushing blow to Ajax Cape Town’s Premier Soccer League title aspirations with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory on Sunday. In other matches, Sundowns beat Chiefs 1-0; Celtic and Leopards drew 2-2; and AmaZulu and Platinum Stars drew 0-0.
Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs face up for a repeat of their recent pulsating Nedbank Cup clash in a Premier Soccer League game at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday afternoon. While it might not be of great significance in the PSL championship race, the match-up is certain to be the big crowd-puller of the weekend.
A solitary goal by Clive Moyo-Modise gave Wits a jump from seventh to fourth place on the Absa Premiership table as they beat Free State Stars 1-0 at the Bidvest Stadium on Wednesday night. Wits leapfrogged Stars, Golden Arrows and Orlando Pirates into the top-five slot.
At one stage they were Absa Premiership title contenders, but now all seventh-placed Wits are playing for is a place in the top half of the competition. And that will rest heavily on their minds when they take on sixth-placed Free State Stars at the Bidvest Stadium on Wednesday night.
Ajax Cape Town dropped two points as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a stubborn Platinum Stars side in an Absa Premiership clash at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. Ajax started the game well and had an early chance when Russell Mwafulirwa fired in a volley from the edge of the area, which drew a good save out of Stars keeper Wayne Sandilands.
The long wait ended in a fairytale triumph for Walter Khumalo when Free State Stars’ veteran goalkeeper came off eight months on the bench to instigate a tense and taut Nedbank Cup penalty shoot-out victory against Platinum Stars at Goble Park in Bethlehem on Sunday afternoon.
SuperSport United continued their rampant run in the Absa Premiership with a convincing 2-0 win over Platinum Stars at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Sunday. SuperSport have won five and drawn two of their seven games since the second round of fixtures got under way in February, and now trail log leaders Ajax Cape Town by a single point.
After the stark famine of a mere one goal in six Premier Soccer League games, with three of these matches drawn and the other three ending in defeats, Kaizer Chiefs gorged themselves on an amazing second-half scoring feast while beating Free State Stars 4-1 at a sweltering Charles Mopeli Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Platinum Stars maintained their impressive record against Kaizer Chiefs as they held the Soweto club to a 0-0 draw in a Premier Soccer League match at the Loftus Stadium on Wednesday evening. Chiefs remain in 12th place with 24 points from 21 games and Stars stay put in ninth place with 26 points.
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/ 24 February 2008
A 10-man Golden Arrows team beat the listless Moroka Swallows 1-0 in an Premier Soccer League (PSL) match at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Free State Stars ensured Black Leopards remained bottom of the log when they beat them 2-1 in Thohoyandou.
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/ 21 February 2008
Platinum Stars put Black Leopards deep into the relegation zone when they beat them 2-0 in their Absa Premier League game played at Olympia Park Stadium on Wednesday night. The team from North West led 1-0 at the break in front of a small crowd of diehard supporters.
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/ 16 February 2008
In what might be described as circus soccer, with the goalkeepers in the role of trapeze artists taking a couple of tumbles, Golden Arrows and Free State Stars drew 2-2 in a Premier League game that contained some impressive skills and many laughable errors.
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/ 13 February 2008
Golden Arrows jumped from ninth to fifth position on the log with 23 points after beating Platinum Stars 2-0 in their second Absa Premier League encounter at Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg on Tuesday night. The visitors were leading 1-0 at the break.
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/ 25 January 2008
The Africa Cup of Nations is well under way in Ghana and the continental showpiece has already showcased its sparkling talent and delivered a number of scintillating goals. Africa’s greatest goal scorers have for a long time graced some of the world’s most famous leagues. Here are six of the best.
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/ 21 January 2008
While political protests blight Kenya, Ghana will polish its image as a tourism and investment destination when it hosts the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament, which started on Sunday. Staging Africa’s most prestigious sporting event will cast a positive international spotlight on the small but stable West African state.
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/ 23 December 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund appeared as ebullient as a schoolboy who had raided the cookie jar after his team’s hard-earned 1-0 Premier league victory over Free State Stars at a sultry Goble Stadium in Bethlehem on Saturday afternoon.
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/ 3 December 2007
The nosedive of Moroka Swallows continued in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) on Sunday afternoon as the ailing Birds plunged to a 3-1 home defeat against Jomo Cosmos at the Germiston Stadium. A flurry of three goals in the last five minutes comprehensively sealed Swallows’ fate.
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/ 30 November 2007
This time last year Muhsin Ertugral was calm and affable. He was clocking success after success with Ajax Cape Town, whose players he called his chickens — mostly because of their youth. It was around this time that he was preparing for the Telkom Cup final, the first of two finals to which he led his chickens last season.
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/ 25 November 2007
Ajax Cape Town registered a 1-0 win against Amazulu in an entertaining Premier Soccer League match at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Sunday. The score was 0-0 at half-time. In other matches, Free State Stars moved to position two on the log against Platinum Stars and Lamontville Golden Arrows beat Black Leopards 1-0.