By Michael Madyira
A costly blunder by Edmilson Dove and a shambolic display saw Kaizer Chiefs falling 1-0 to Sekhukhune United in a Premier Soccer League match at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
On a day they were celebrating their 53rd anniversary, Chiefs were punished by Vusimuzi Mncube who profited from Dove’s mistake four minutes into the second half.
It was a missed opportunity for Amakhosi to go third on the table, while Sekhukhune registered back-to-back wins and rose to 10th position.
It was a horrendous start to the year for Chiefs and the match as Chibuike Ohizu almost punished them early into the contest but shot wide before what was the beginning of a wasteful first half by the hosts.
Fourteen minutes into the match Caleb-Bonfils Bimenyimana lost footing and could not pounce on a loose ball after Sekhukhune goalkeeper Badra Sangare had split Reeve Frosler’s ferocious shot.
But the Burundian tried to make amends by nicely setting up an unmarked Keagan Dolly who shot over the bar before Yusuf Maart’s powerful shot also went narrowly off target.
Just after the half-hour mark, Bimenyimana rose high to head just wide off a Frosler cross but was not precise.
Bimenyimana then completely missed another Frosler cross before the teams went for the break.
Chiefs’ start to the second half was disastrous, Edmilson Dove’s howler giving Mncube an opportunity to beat Itumeleng Khune.
Dove tried to make up for his mistake on 73 minutes with a long shot but missed by a whisker while Samkelo Zwane forced an impressive save from Sangare a minute later.
It now became a Sangare versus Chiefs affair with the Ivorian being drawn to excellently save from Sifiso Hlanti and Ashley du Preez.
Meanwhile, Orlando Pirates surrendered their lead through Deon Hotto to allow hosts Cape Town City to claw back into the contest and win 2-1 via South Americans Juan Zapata and Darwin Gonzalez.
The result was a third successive league defeat for the Buccaneers who dropped two places down to seventh spot while City climbed to sixth.
Elsewhere at Princess Magogo Stadium, second-placed SuperSport United failed to cut the gap between them and leaders Mamelodi Sundowns back to seven points after suffering a 2-1 defeat away at Golden Arrows.
First-half goals by Nduduzo Sibiya and Knox Mutizwa inspired Arrows to victory while Matsatsantsa got a late consolation from Thabang Sibanyoni.
Maritzburg vacated the basement following a 1-0 win over Marumo Gallants away and ended a seven-match winless streak, thanks to an own goal by Tshepo Gumede that condemned Bahlabani ba Ntwa to the foot of the table.
Pictured above: Kaizer Chiefs taking on Sekhukhune
Image source: Kaizer Chiefs
