Chiefs beat Swallows to move to fifth place
They trail log leaders and early pace setters Mamelodi Sundowns by five points
Yusuf Maart of Kaizer Chiefs and Tlakusani Mthethwa of Swallows FC battling it out during the DStv Premiership match at Dobsonville Stadium on Wednesday night Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
Kaizer Chiefs have climbed up to fifth position in the DStv Premiership table after beating embattled Swallows FC 2-1 on Wednesday night.
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Amakhosi are now equal on 14 points with Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United above them after nine games.
Then trail log leaders and early pace setters Mamelodi Sundowns by five points. It was also not a display to write about at Dobsonville Stadium.
But coach Arthur Zwane will be happy that they managed to score early goals this time around and did not have to chase the game.
And scoring two goals after the embarrassing misses by his two strikers Caleb Bimenyimana and Ashley Du Preez in a cup game last weekend will give Zwane some hope.
Chiefs were on the front foot from the onset and created some chances. They easily found the balls to bypass Swallows’ defensive block.
It was,however, only in the 35the minute that something came of their efforts. Caleb Bimenyimana connected with Kgaogelo Sekgota’s cross to nod in the first goal.
They continued to search, looking for more goals and were rewarded just a minute before the half time break. Amakhosi were awarded a free kick not far away from the Swallows goal.
Keagan Dolly was tasked with the responsibility of taking it. And he did so well, curling the ball past an outstretched Sanele Tshabalala.
This meant Amakhosi went into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead for the first time this season.
Swallows came out with some fight in the second half, realising that a loss would see them remain rooted to the bottom of the standings.
They found one back against the run of play in the 68th minute through Waseem Isaacs. The forward was unlucky to see his effort go wide in the 74th minute as he looked to salvage at least a point.
The loss leaves Swallows in 16th place with just six points collected after nine games. While this would not normally be a cause for a slight, panic, given Swallows’ reported financial problems, this could spell disaster.
The Dube Birds survived relegation through the playoffs last term and unless some drastic measures are taken to steer the team away from its current position, it could end the same way again.
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