Paul Maluleke’s fantastic five against Blue Aces ensured that Rangers collected maximum points as the battle for promotion to the SAB League next season heats up.
Maluleke struck a brace in the first half of the game to give Rangers a 2–0 lead going into the break. When the second stanza resumed, the brilliant Maluleke, better known to his teammates as ‘Messi’ after the Argentina international and FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, struck a hat-trick to seal his superb form on the day.
Aces, who seemed to have forgotten their striking boots at home, failed to reply to the five from Maluleke who is now the top goal scorer of the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association’s Promotional League with 21 goals.
Before this match, Maluleke and his coach Musa Hlombe had been challenged via SMS by his rival on the scoring charts, Nkosingiphile Nzimande of Black Poison who netted three times on 30 March to take his tally to 20.
Nzimande had challenged Maluleke to match or exceed his tally. “I took up the challenge and actually scored the five goals that Nkosi challenge me with and I now lead the stakes with a solitary goal,” said Maluleke.
“I am delighted to have accepted the challenge and lived up to it. Watch this space, more [goals] are yet to come as I want to finish as the league’s top goal poacher,” said a visibly overwhelmed Maluleke, who not only netted five of the best but ‘scored’ a yellow card as well for taking off his shirt in celebration of the final goal.
Hlombe said he was happy that Maluleke had lived up to the challenge. “Rangers has always played exciting football but our only sore point has been failing to find the back of the net. Even the matches that we have lost we had dominated and I just hope this is the beginning of exciting times of scoring goals.”
In the 10th minute of the game, Rangers’ Itumeleng Molepo thought he had opened the scoring when he rifled a shot into the back of the net and began the usual celebration only for the goal to be disallowed by the referee for offside.
Rangers’ spirits were not dampened by this as Molepo followed it up with a beautiful cross that found an unmarked Maluleke, who made no mistake in writing his name on the scoresheet. As if possessed, Maluke soon got his second.
In the second half, the rampant Maluleke scored his third goal while his fourth and fifth came in less than five minutes apart after he twice beat the offside trap and rounded the advancing keeper.
Aces had a few scoring chances which were all easily dealt with by Rangers keeper, Bhekumuzi Siqaza.
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