Amakhosi go down to Santos

Santos 3 ( 11. Scott 12 min, 9.Rodgers 46 min, 7. Chapman 80 min )
Kaizer Chiefs 1 ( 33. Mototo 4 min)
Eastern Province Rugby Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Premier Soccer League
22 April 2007
Kick Off: 15h15
Temperature: 24° C

Kaizer Chiefs lost a league game to Santos for the first time since 1998 as they went down 3-1 to the Capetonians, at Port Elizabeth’s Eastern Province Rugby Stadium. Despite taking an early lead through some quick thinking by Ditheko Mototo who used his head to give Chiefs the advantage in the fourth minute, Santos were able to come back and with goals from Roman Scott, Eleazar Rodgers and a third from Substitute Ryan Chapman the ABSA Cup semi – finalists were able to win the game comfortably.

Chiefs had two set pieces in the fourth minute and attacked the Santos goal with copy cat moves; in the first instance Gerald Sibeko floated a free kick from the left deep towards the Santos back post. Where David Obua was lurking the lanky Obua rose to head the ball across goal towards Shaun Bartlett, whose first time shot was blocked by a Santos player and flew out for a corner. From the ensuing corner Sibeko again played a ball to the back post, where once again he found the head of David Obua who headed the ball down wards as Wayne Roberts came out for the ball Ditheko Mototo dived in and headed the ball over the line to give Chiefs the lead.

Three minutes after that and Chiefs charged up the field quickly after successfully defending a Santos corner, Louis Agyemang set Obua free on the right who instantly sped goal wards and unleashed a powerful shot which was a Santos player managed to deflect away from goal. The rebound though fell to Siyabonga Nkosi lurking on the far side of the Santos penalty area; his shot though failed to find the target and went across the face of goal and wide.

In the twelfth minute Santos broke down a Chiefs attack and launched one of their own down the centre, Romano Scott received a pass along the ground and with justice Fernandez in front of him he knocked the ball under the Chiefs keeper to level matters. Six minutes on and Fernandez was called into action again this time around the Chiefs keeper came out trumps, when he was able to turn away a well timed volley by Thembile Kanono from the edge of the Chiefs 18 yard area.

Eleven minutes before the interval Louis Agyemang managed to fight off the towering figure of Sebastian Bax and sent a ball across the Santos goal where David Obua’s first time shot was blocked. The ball flew in the direction of Derrick Spencer who raced to the ball and hit it first time, Spencer shot flew just wide of Robert’s goal. Three minutes before half time Santos launched another attack Eleazar Rodgers from the left wing inside the Chiefs 18 yard area played a ball to his team mate Kanono lurking on the opposite end. From inside the Chiefs six yard area Kanono could only manage to side foot the ball wide of Rowen Fernandez, to ensure that the teams left the field at half time tied at 1-1.

Chiefs began the second half in the worst possible way conceding a goal from the restart, after Santos got the second half up and running they managed to get the ball to Kanono on the left. In turn he played in team mate Rodgers who did well to control the ball with his chest before shooting firing the ball past Rowen Fernandez and into the roof of the net to put Santos ahead in the game.

Just past the hour mark Santos striker Eleazar Rodgers played his team mate Mogogi Gabonamong into space, within shooting distance of Fernandez goal he let rip goal wards Rowen Fernandez judged the ball well and at full stretch kept the ball out. From that broken Santos attack The Amakhosi launched an attack of their own, Shaun Bartlett sent Serge Djiehoua on his way with a pass that caught Santos napping. Djiehoua in acres of space wasted time in dispatching the ball goal wards, by the time he did take his shot Santos had gotten enough man back and managed to block the danger.

On seventy six minutes Ditheko Mototo came close to leveling the scores when his down header off an Arthur Zwane corner from the left bounced over Wayne Roberts, and went agonizingly close to hitting the target but missed by inches. Santos made sure of the win with nine minutes to go when substitute Ryan Chapman who was hardly on the field for thirty seconds, was the lucky recipient of a short pass and managed to stick the ball past Fernandez.

Siyabonga Nkosi thought that he had found a way back for Chiefs with a superbly taken free kick, from the edge of the area Nkosi floated the ball over the Santos wall and beyond Roberts. Unfortunately for him the referee had ruled that it was and indirect free kick, in injury time Nkosi try his luck with another free kick this time in line with the Santos goal. He was able to again get the better of the wall but not Roberts who pulled off a superb stop as he dived across the length of the goal to push the ball wide.

Refereeing inconsistencies apart The Amakhosi were not at their best during this game and failed to capitalize on the chances that came their way, in addition they lost possession in key areas at important times and were made to pay a heavy price. Kosta Papic will need to ensure that his team win their remaining three games of the seasons, failure to do so could result in Chiefs finishing outside the top eight.

Line Up’s:

Santos: 1. W. Roberts, 23. E. Burton, 2. M. Otieno (13. Hendricks 86 min), 16. W. Arendse, 3. T. R. October, 6. S. Bax, 4. M. Gabonamong, 10. T. Kanono (7. Chapman 79 min), 8. T. Ngomeni, 11. R. Scott (25. Selolwane 73 min), 9. E. Rodgers

Substitutes: 30. J. Barnard, 20. C. Bianchi, 19. O. Hendricks, 25. D. Selolwane, 21. K. Mathopa, 13. J. Hendricks, 7. R. Chapman

Coach: Roger Da Sa

Kaizer Chiefs: 1. R. Fernandez, 2. J. Tau, 6. F. McCarthy, 44. S. Mkhonza, 13. D. Obua (11. Ngobese 71 min), 33. D. Mototo, 10. S. Nkosi, 28. D. Spencer, 27. G. Sibeko (18. Zwane 58 min), 20. L. Agyemang (9. Djiehoua 63 min), 17. S. Bartlett

Substitutes:

32. I. Khune, 24. D. Mathebula, 11. E. Ngobese, 9. S. Djiehoua, 12. T. Mooki, 21. P. Mayo, 18. A. Zwane

Coach: Kosta Papic

Cautions: Santos, Yellow Cards, 10. Thembilie Kanono 37 min Kaizer Chiefs, Yellow Cards, 2. Jimmy Tau 13 min, 27. Gerald Sibeko 17 min, 10. S. Nkosi 38 min, 17. Shaun Bartlett 40 min

Officials:

Referee: Miss D. Mitchell
Assistant 1: Mr. L. Chalambisa
Assistant 2: Mr. L. Bolo
4th Official: Mr. J. Frolick
Match Commissioner: Mr. S. Swart