United dents Chiefs’ title challenge

Maritzburg are turning out to be Amakhosi’s bogey team as the race to the top heats up

Maritzburg United blew the Absa Premiership title race wide open when they stunned log leaders Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 at FNB Stadium last night.

Last night’s results means the gap at the top of the log has been reduced to a mere seven points between Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, who have a game in hand.

The Brazilians’ 3-0 victory over Chippa United earlier yesterday put pressure on Chiefs to replicate their results.

But they came unstuck against their nemesis, who accounted for Chiefs’ third loss of the season.

What a week it has been for coach Eric Tinkler and his United charges.

They came, saw, scored and collected six points against championship hopefuls Chiefs and Bidvest Wits in just one week in Johannesburg.

On Wednesday, the Team of Choice shocked Wits 1-0 at Bidvest Stadium and left much damage in their wake as they worked to have their say in the championship title race.

Daylon Claasen was the hero of the day as he bagged a second-half brace to break Amakhosi’s hearts.

Chiefs goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi will have some questions to answer as it was his blunder that gifted United the opening goal. The Nigerian international, who got the nod ahead of Bafana Bafana number one Itumeleng Khune, fumbled what looked like an easy catch and allowed Tebogo Tlolane to cross the ball to Claasen, whose first-time volley found the back of the net. The goal caught Chiefs off-guard. They went to sleep again a minute later, and Claasen headed home his second of the night.

Samir Nurkovic pulled one back – his 11th of the campaign – for Amakhosi with 12 minutes remaining to make it a nerve-racking finish.

But the Team of Choice hung on to register a great win, which will have been celebrated by many supporters, including Chiefs’ rivals, Sundowns and Pirates.

But the visitors have their goalkeeper and captain Richard Ofori to thank for winning the game – he was brilliant in goal, making a series of fantastic saves.

Sundowns, who reduced the gap to seven points with their resounding 3-0 victory over Chippa United in an earlier kick-off, were the biggest winners on the day. Downs have a game in hand, and they could trim the gap to four points if they win their game against Bloemfontein Celtic on Wednesday.

Last night, Amakhosi dominated the first half, but Maritzburg looked like a different team after the half-time break.

The Team of Choice have now taken four points off Chiefs in the league, and are turning out to be their bogey team.

There was a decent crowd as supporters came out in their numbers to rally behind Amakhosi, but they left the stadium disappointed by the loss.

The two teams played to an entertaining 1-1 draw at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg in December, but the visitors collected maximum points this time after a great second-half performance.

They beat Chiefs 2-1 in the Telkom Knockout semi-final in November and left their fans in tears. The Team of Choice lived up to their promise of upsetting Amakhosi again, and they did it in style.

This result will most likely give the rest of the chasing pack the belief that they can unseat Amakhosi at the top of the log.

Amakhosi welcomed their talisman Khama Billiat back into the starting line-up after two months off due to a knee injury, but he could not save them.

Chiefs’ next league game is against their Soweto rivals Pirates in a fortnight.

With 10 games still to go, we should expect a few more twists and turns.

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