Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane is hoping to continue his revolution after consecutive wins against arch-rivals Orlando Pirates and Golden Arrows.
Next up will be resurgent Sekhukhune United, looking to claw their way back up the table. They will square off against Chiefs at the FNB Stadium tonight (start 8pm).
Amakhosi are currently in fourth place on the log, after amassing 24 points after 14 games. Chiefs will be looking to celebrate as the club marks its 53rd anniversary and will guard against Sekhukhune gate-crashing their party.
Apart from the club’s anniversary, Zwane is looking to sustain its winning run so that they can challenge for league honours and ensure the title chase will go down to the wire.
“There are still 16 games to play, and I can concur with Sundowns coach Rulani who said the league has never been won in January,” said Zwane.
Happy Birthday Khosi Family! #KC53 #Amakhosi4Life pic.twitter.com/Eme0LpNLdK
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) January 7, 2023
“Our focus is to look at ourselves and what we can improve. We’ll take one game at a time and in every game we play to win maximum points. I hope in all the remaining games we’ll be able to grind out the results and be up there to compete with the best.
“Look at Supersport and Richards Bay. They’re doing well and Sundowns are leading the pack. It’s never going to be an easy one and I believe it will go down to the wire.”
As for Sekhukhune, the travelling outfit head into the Chiefs game following a morale-boosting 3-2 win over Marumo Gallants on Tuesday evening.
In making their way to Soweto, Sekhukhune are still looking for their first away win in the 22/23 campaign. Their defender Daniel Cardoso, formerly of Chiefs, said that little motivation is needed when facing the PSL’S “Big Three” and that players will be hungry to prove a point.
“We’ve just come from two games, picked up four points but it should have been six points,” said Cardoso.
“We dropped points against Amazulu; I thought we shouldn’t have dropped, picking up six points would have put less pressure on us going into this one.
“It’s a big game, a big team and as I said before when I spoke about Pirates, when you come up against Chiefs, Pirates, Sundowns, the motivation is already there.
“Players are hungry, players want to prove a point, younger players are looking for contracts, so it’s going to be an exciting game.”
Meanwhile, Gavin Hunt’s Supersport United will be targeting their third Premiership win on the trot against Golden Arrows at the Princess Magogo Stadium this afternoon (3.30pm).
After the World Cup break, Supersport continued where they left off before the break after beating Marumo Gallants and Cape Town City to overtake Richards Bay into second position.
Coach Hunt confessed he is down to the bare bones in defence after losing Thatayaone Ditlhokwe to injury in the 36th minute against City, and stressed the need for reinforcements this month as he looks to keep the momentum going.
“I came here two weeks before the start of the season and I could see what we need and don’t need,” said Hunt. “I knew we’d be okay if we could buy one or two.
“We need one or two as you can see, we’re dropping and now with another game on Saturday. It is important for us as we’ve got three-four away games in a row to try and get as much as we can.”
Vusumuzi Vilakazi’s Arrows team have only recorded four wins from their opening 14 matches and are just three points clear of the relegation zone in 10th place.
Vilakazi admitted Arrows were made to pay for a slow start against Chiefs and says they cannot afford to gift easy goals to opponents through their own mistakes.
“I strongly feel that we lost the game in the first 15 minutes,” he declared. “It’s something that we always stress as coaches for players to always focus... but we lacked concentration and we had to double our efforts in terms of coming back.
“But we had that hope because they scored two goals in the (opening) 45 minutes and we had 45 minutes in the second half, but we decided to shut the door and make sure there is no room for errors and try to focus more on creating scoring opportunities.
“We created a few, we hit the post twice and I cannot fault the effort and hard work from the players, but we still need to work on making sure that we fully focus on the game and not allow the opposition to score silly goals.”
At the Peter Mokaba Stadium this afternoon, three crucial points will be up for grabs when Marumo Gallants and Maritzburg United go head to head in a bottom-of-the-table clash (3.30pm).
Gallants coach Dan Malesela went unbeaten in his first two games back at the helm after deciding to quit Royal AM in October. Now Gallants are in trouble following back-to-back defeats against Supersport and Sekhukhune most recently.
“The pain is not about us losing matches, we will bounce back. It is about what is being done (in terms of officiating) to the PSL,” said Malesela. “I coached in the then Vodacom League and it was bad.
“I care about South African football, a lot. I wish to see us grow and progress, but when things come to a point where a game is not controlled by players, then we are in trouble. Our national team will just remain the same.”
The Team of Choice also have a new man in charge after Fadlu Davids was appointed John Maduka’s successor last month.
Davids’ tenure began with a 2-1 defeat to TS Galaxy last Friday and he has since moved to bolster his frail defence with the acquisition of former Stellenbosch centre-back Rafiq de Goede.
“I am really excited to join the Team of Choice,” said De Goede. “I have settled well in the team and coach Fadlu and the players have welcomed me with open arms.
“My main priority is to assist the team to get back to winning ways.”
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