09 December 2019, by: Thabang Kgeledi

PSL Talking Points – Matchday 14

Kaizer Chiefs continued their glorious start to the season as they overcame Bloem Celtic in another great match in Durban. While their biggest rivals, Orlando Pirates, stuttered once again.

As usual, we have got your PSL matchday 14 talking points right here.

Kaizer Chiefs came away with a 5-2 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic in a thrillier at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday evening. Amakhosi were without their best-attacking player, Khama Billiat, due to injury. They were, however, unfazed as their two strikers Leonardo Castro and Samir Nurković scored all five goals between them, with the latter scoring a hattrick.

I wasn’t impressed with the way Chiefs conceded all three goals on the counter-attack. You would have thought the return of Eric Mathoho from suspension would have solidified the defence. It didn’t. That being said, Chiefs showed resilience to come back from being behind twice to win the game.

Kaizer Chiefs are still 10 points ahead on the PSL table. They couldn’t have asked for a better start to a season. They play their last game of the year against Maritzburg United on the 22nd of December. A win could obliterate all hope for the chasing pack.

Orlando Pirates conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes to throw away a lead and three points against Baroka. Pirates have won only three of their last 10 games in all competitions. After last weekend’s unsatisfactory result the fans were audibly unhappy.

“I don’t control that. I can’t speak about the fans. I speak about what we can do,” said coach Rhulani Mokwena in his post-game interview.

Orlando Pirates are a team in shambles. Their wealth of talent is what drags them over the line on occasion but overall they aren’t a cohesive unit. Rhulani Mokwena’s nonchalant ‘Mr-know-it-all’ demeanour is a turn-off to Orlando Pirates supporters. That attitude will backfire on him. The team is struggling, this is the time for him to be humble and to at least act like he cares.

Amazulu began their 2019/2020 with four losses and two draws in their first six games. They fired coach Cavin Johnson. They then went on a run of three wins in their next four. It seemed as though Amazulu, a well-run mid-table club, had turned the corner. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.

They drew 0-0 with Black Leopards over the weekend. With that stalemate, Usuthu have now collected only five from a possible 15 points in their last five matches played. They are second from bottom on the table in the 15th position and they can’t seem to find the back of the net even if their lives depended on it.

There are still 16 games to be played this season, Amazulu have plenty of time to get things right. However, the only way they can get out of this mess is by winning games but they aren’t even creating opportunities to score which is worrying.

Cape Town City went down by a single goal to nil against Chippa United at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday. The Cape Town situation is curious. These are players who have been playing together for a few seasons in which they have competed for the league and won a couple of cups.

John Comitis assumed Benni McCarthy was the problem so he fired him. But, City have only won a single game since his departure. The problems are deeper than just the coach.

Chippa United on the other hand, have continued their good form under coach Norman Mapeza. His team is playing quicker, more incisive football and they are going into games looking for three points. After spending most of this league campaign on the basement of the log, their win against City was enough to leapfrog the Capetonians into 11th place.

Supersport United won their third game in five with their 2-0 victory over Highlands Park. They are now in the second position, 10 points behind Kaizer Chiefs. United haven’t been playing the most flashy of football this season but they are MTN 8 champions and they are staying close (relatively) to the high flying Amakhosi.

Coach Kaitano Tembo has put faith in youngsters like Teboho Mokoena and Ronwen Williams and mixed that with the experience of Dean Furman and Clayton Daniels to form a formidable spine of the team.

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