HERMAN GIBBS
The PSL staged the remaining two MTN8 quarter-final matches this weekend when four Premiership teams had their first taste of action in the new season. The two matches were hardly crowd-pleasing spectacles, but the performances gave rise to talking points in local football circles.
1 Mamelodi Sundowns won but failed to score
So much was expected from Sundowns in their match against lowly Polokwane City. After all, they have the best players in the country. Despite this massive advantage and the home-ground benefit, coach Manqoba Mngqithi predicted that “it is going to be a tough one”.
But he could not have foreseen that the star-studded Sundowns would fail to score in a match that went into extra-time. Instead, Sundowns’ winner came via an own goal. To make matters easier for Sundowns, Polokwane started without their match winner, winger Oswin Appollis, who came off the bench around the hour mark, and came close to scoring.
2 Cape Town City caused a ‘minor’ upset
All the MTN8 quarter-final matches went according to plan, except for the clash between Sekhukhune United and Cape Town City. Sekhukhune finished above City in the Premiership last season and they were therefore expected to win.
City coach Eric Tinkler was quick to point out that the outcome was the only upset of the quarter-final round. Sekhukhune were surprisingly up for the fight despite the fact their German coach Peter Hyballa was not on the bench. It also transpired that Sekhukhune’s match preparation was thwarted by events which showed Hyballa’s presence became a problem at the Limpopo-based club.
https://x.com/OfficialPSL/status/1822662629900304809
3 Fortune smiles on MTN8 semi-final draw
It is a draw that would have brought a smile to the face of the late Abdul Bhamjee, that doyen of public relations officers. Only he could be relied on to conduct draws so that the country’s premier sides, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, would potentially end up in the final.
Sunday’s MTN8 draw for the semi-finals ensures that Pirates and Sundowns, two members of the country’s ‘big three’ were kept apart in the two-legged semi-final round. Pirates and Sundowns played last year’s final, and if they both emerge victorious after the semifinals, we’ll have a repeat of that final in two weeks.
4 Coach Ramovic over the moon as Galaxy’s ban is lifted
Over the weekend, Fifa lifted the ban on TS Galaxy and they are no longer subjected to a three-window transfer blackout. As ordered by Fifa, TS Galaxy paid R1.8 million to Ivorian striker Bernard Yao Kouassiwas for unfair dismissal.
Galaxy are now free to register the 10 new players that the club bought in recent weeks. Galaxy’s combustible coach, Sead Ramovic will be delighted that he’ll be able to field the new players rather than have them waiting in the wings. With this influx of new players, Ramovic has vowed the team will do well provided they “don’t have to play in a swimming pool” this season. He was referring to their MTN8 quarter-final exit against Stellenbosch FC on a waterlogged Danie Craven Stadium pitch.
5 Stellenbosch FC Next Generation Cup triumph ‘stuff of dreams’
Stellenbosch FC’s reserve team, which was recently crowned champions of the 2024 Premier League Next Gen competition in England, returned to Cape Town over the weekend.
Victorious coach Evangelos Vellios has described the campaign as the “stuff of dreams” after defeating a string of Premier League opponents en route to the title. Vellios’ charges faced Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace in the group stage, before once again emerging victorious over Spurs in the final of the competition.
For many of the players, it was their first time travelling abroad and representing the club internationally. Their senior team will face Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-finals.