Kaizer Chiefs gasped in horror when what was to be a last-minute equalising goal against Mamelodi Sundowns was disallowed for offside, thereby handing the Brazilians a 2–1 victory.
Read more: Can rejuvenated Chiefs cause an upset on rampant Downs?
Soon after the disallowed goal, missiles and other projectiles reigned down at the FNB Stadium. The referee also blew his whistle for full time to end five minutes of his optional added-on time, and AmaKhosi Amahle had to endure yet another of many more defeats at the feet of Masandawana.
AmaKhosi faithful filled the stadium to a reasonable capacity, pinning their hopes on a rejuvenated Soweto giants to do the job in the backdrop of a good season start of two straight wins in the Betway Premiership against Marumo Gallants and AmaZulu.
Buoyed by these two victories, AmaKhosi for life fans must have thought this game was going to be a walk in the park and that all three points were already in the bag for their side.
Beaten in their backyard by the usual nemesis, AmaKhosi then vented their anger by throwing an assortment of missiles onto the pitch despite a loudhailer call from club officials, begging them to desist from the act that could land the club in hot water with the Premier Soccer League.
Abafana Bokuthula Noxolo, as the avid fans also affectionately refer to Chiefs, opened the scoring through the boot of rising goal poacher Ranga Chivaviro in just 15 minutes of play when the ball was lopped over the midfield to him by a teammate.
Chivaviro latched on the ball, battled his sole defender, and his nimble footedness allowed him to dribble past, giving him space to knock it past an advancing Ronwen Williams to hit the back of an unguarded net.
Also read: MTN 8 lacklustre Mamelodi Sundowns in for a tough Betway Premiership
The stadium raptured into a frenzy of jubilation from the thousands of AmaKhosi fans who filled the bottom half of the stadium, giving them hope that victory was finally theirs and that they could finally tame the domineering Yellow Machine.
Chiefs missed a couple of scoring opportunities from the same man, Chivaviro, before Masandawana skipper Themba ‘Mshishi’ Zwane, who had just missed an equaliser that was inches off target from the upright, supplied a champagne pass to Lucas Ribeiro Costa, who made no mistake in converting the equalising goal.
Free-scoring Iqraam Rayners found the back of the net in just 10 minutes to go to halftime, giving the Brazilians a slender 2–1 lead into the oranges break.
On resumption, Namibian substitute dangerman Peter Shalulile could have quickly put Masandawana two up when his diving header was saved by an alert Chiefs keeper Fiacre Ntwari.
Both sides missed a couple of scoring opportunities again in the second stanza, when Chiefs thought they had beaten the offside trap and found an equaliser, but the flag had long been up for offside.
There was a frenzy of jubilation as this happened in the dying seconds of the referee’s optional time of five minutes, with the multitude of AmaKhosi fans thinking this was it and that they had finally broken the hoodoo of Sundowns.
Jubilation soon turned into sorrow and missiles started pouring into the pitch as officials called for calm, saying such behaviour was not like, ‘us as we are known to be Abafana Bokuthula Noxolo’.
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