HAPPY COACH Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane Independent Media
On Saturday, the title-chasing Orlando Pirates lost their way in Bloemfontein, while their coach José Riveiro was seated in the stands, serving a one-match touchline ban.
Riveiro, unable to assist, watched idly by as his star-studded team suffered a demoralising 2-0 defeat to lowly Marumo Gallants.
A feature of the match was the terrific turn-out of former Bloemfontein Celtic supporters who played an inspirational role as Gallants' 12th man to set up one of the major Premiership upsets of the season, and that is one of the five takeaways from the weekend's local footie.
Referees who work the PSL games are rarely praised for their efforts, but Cape Town City's interim coach Mushin Ertuğrul did just that despite his side losing the match 2-0. Ertuğrul said Michael Mosemeng did a superb job and paid him many compliments. What a change from the usual whinging by PSL club coaches after matches. Polokwane City coach Phuti Mohafe felt referee Masixole Bambiso was one-sided and complained bitterly after his side was held to a 1-1 draw against Stellenbosch over the weekend.
Magesi FC have been in the throes of relegation almost as soon as the season started but they have produced two earth-shattering moments this season. On Saturday, they went pound-for-pound with Gavin Hunt's SuperSport United and came away with a 1-0 win at their new home ground, Seshego Stadium, in Limpopo. In November Magesi did the impossible by defeating the star-studded Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 in the Carling Knockout Cup final. Earlier in the competition, Magesi pulled off a shock 3-2 win over Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium.
Emile Witbooi at 16 years, six months and five days became the ninth youngest player to debut in local pro football after he entered the fray in the second half of Cape Town City’s 2-0 away loss to AmaZulu in the Betway Premiership on Sunday. Witbooi is the son of Surprise Ralani, the former Cape Town City (104 games) and Mamelodi Sundowns (18) winger. The record is held by the once-sensational Mkhanyiseli Siwahla, who was 15 years, five months, 22 days when he made his debut for Ajax Cape Town in an Absa cup clash against Dynamos, being thrust into the starting line-up by Gordon Igesund.
When Kaizer Chiefs failed to score against Sundowns on Saturday, they slipped further into a negative goal aggregate. In their last two Premiership games, they conceded five goals (lost 1-0 to Sundowns and 4-1 to SuperSport United). This leaves eighth placed Chiefs with 21 goals and 24 conceded after 19 games. This aggregate leaves them with the third-poorest defensive record in the Premiership. These statistics all point to Chiefs' having another disappointing season while Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi continues his much-vaunted project of rebuilding the team.
At a time when Pirates were pushing to close the points gap on pace-setters Sundowns, their Spanish coach José Riveiro was serving a touchline ban on Saturday in Bloemfontein. He was suspended after picking up a yellow card just over a week ago (his fourth of the season, triggering a one-game touchline ban). Victory over lowly Gallants who have been in the relegation throes at some stage of the season looked like a foregone conclusion. However, Gallants was a different proposition on Saturday when Moroccan-born Abdeslam Ouaddou was at the helm after the shock departure of Dan 'Dance' Malesela.
Related Topics: