SOMETIME during the Soweto Derby on Saturday, Bruce Bvuma lay sprawled on the pitch, injured, and the panic on the Kaizer Chiefs bench told the story of just how well their goalkeeper was doing.
While goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi prepared Ficari Ntwari to come on, coach Nasredinne Nabi and his assistant Khalil Ben Youssef could be seen gesticulating at the medical team in Bvuma’s box, clearly keen to have them confirm he was good to continue.
He did continue and while Amakhosi eventually lost 1-0 to Orlando Pirates courtesy of a last-minute penalty expertly converted by Tito Maswanganyi, Bvuma had a blinder of a match.
In an encounter that could easily have gone either way, the 29-year-old did very well to keep a Pirates side that was expected to slaughter Chiefs at bay. With Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa looking to get his maiden Soweto derby goal and sniffing around like the true goal-poacher he is, Bvuma was in uncompromising mood as he did a good job of cleaning up after his defence, which often allowed him to be exposed.
There was a brilliant stop with his right foot on 57 minutes to deny Mabasa, and just five minutes thereafter he kept the exciting young Relebohile Mofokeng from scoring, Bvuma making himself big as the young Pirates star unleashed a shot.
Player of the Match Makhehleni Makhaula had a long-range effort, but Bvuma did enough to parry it away from the net to great applause from The Ghost, who for once appeared to outnumber their Chiefs counterparts in the packed arena that was strangely painted red, thanks to flags given to the fans by sponsors of both clubs, Vodacom.
Bvuma was not wearing red, but his all-white kit shone brightest on the day when he probably would have won the Man-of-the-Match award had Njabulo Blom not conceded that penalty by fouling Mofokeng.
The Chiefs goalkeeper looked properly hurt when that stoppage happened, but he was not about to let his teammates down. He got back up to give a compellingly good performance that was only soured by that penalty, which even the best of goalkeepers in the world would probably not have been able to stop.
But it was the kind of showing that will lift his confidence for the rest of the season, mirroring Chiefs’ performance. For while they lost, Amakhosi were not played off the field as many had thought would be the case. If anything, they gave an indication that they are slowly but surely becoming a much better team under Nabi’s guidance.