Johannesburg — It wasn’t pretty, but that won’t matter as Arthur Zwane can breath a sigh of relief for now!
Regarded as the biggest event in the local sporting calendar, on another day this should have been the decider for not only the town’s bragging rights but for the country’s.
𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐊𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐢 𝐀𝐣𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐥𝐞 ✌
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) February 25, 2023
Olisa Ndah scores at the wrong end to hand Kaizer Chiefs their fifth successive #SowetoDerby win 🟡#DStvPrem | @McDonalds_SA pic.twitter.com/oosKrKtgV7
Yet the traditional big two found themselves fighting for three points that would boost their bid for a second-place finish on the Premiership table which guarantees Caf Champions League football.
Chiefs were the big winners in the end as a late own goal from Orlando Pirates’ defender Olisa Ndah was the only goal of the match at a sold-out FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Chiefs needed this result, and fifth successive win in the Soweto derby, so badly that it eased the pressure on beleaguered coach Zwane whose team has been inconsistent since the start of the season.
Forch-rivals Pirates, though, this result will hurt given that they came here as favourites in their bid for a second-place finish as well.
Nonetheless, Pirates remained third on the table with 31 points, joint with the fifth-placed Chiefs who also trail the second-placed SuperSport United by five points.
Amid the result, though, the two teams started on oven grounds as they had unsettled dugouts. Pirates were missing the suspended coach Jose Riveiro, while Chiefs’ Zwane was under all sorts of pressure due to an inconsistent run.
Zwane, albeit cutting a stressful figure during the pre-match media engagement for this match, was adamant that he was not worried about his future coming into the match.
And while he came with arguably the best of players that he had at his disposal, thanks to a bout of injuries that has hit his camp, he spent most of his time on the side-lines with his arms folded and a spectator, rarely directing traffic.
His opposite number of the day, Sergio Almenara barked instructions with every foray. And his troops were happy to produce sweet melodies that had the Ghost on their feet with every foray earlier on.
Albeit the strong start, Pirates had nothing to show for their dominance as Thembinkosi Lorch was watched like a hawk, failing to find the running Terrence Dzvukamanja up front.
Pirates’ ball rotation saw Chiefs change gears as they used their wing-backs and wingers to stretch the visitors’ defence that didn't have much to do in the opening stages.
But from an attack against the run-of-play, Chiefs nearly came close to finding the goal after Ashley Du Preez was free on goal after a transition only to be denied by a brilliant save from Sipho Chaine.
With chances having been few and far in between in the first half, the first time Chiefs’ supporters were in celebratory mode was when Pirates’ captain Innocent Maea was sent off.
As the last line of the back-four, Maela took one for the team after bringing down Christian Saile who was through on goal.
Pirates’ made a tactical change as they brought on Ndah for Maela. The big Nigerian proved to be Chiefs’ lucky charm and Pirates’ demise as he unceremoniously beat Chaine on goal with a flicking effort.
And that was all the strike that Chiefs and their fans needed to burst into glory at full-time as Zwane left this stadium a hero instead of the man who was ridiculed into boos in the last match.
IOL Sport