CAPE TOWN – Dominant Kaizer Chiefs were held to a goalless draw by hosts TS Galaxy in their DStv Premiership opener at the Mbombela Stadium, Mpumalanga, on Sunday afternoon.
Although Chiefs enjoyed a lion's share of possession, they could not convert their good fortune in a scrappy match in which shots on target were far and few between.
Galaxy forced two corners in the opening 90 seconds after their attackers, making the most of loose marking, ran into spaces in the Chiefs defence. Nothing came of the set-pieces, as the kicks were easily cleared by Chiefs' rear-guard.
In the opening minutes, Chiefs looked out of synch as a team for at least the opening 20 minutes. They were enjoying around 60% of possession but seldom took play into the opposition half.
Full Time’| #GAL 0 : 0 #CHI
Congratulations to DStv Man of The Match: Cole Alexander
#Amakhosi4Life #DStvPrem pic.twitter.com/bH4qVUpNKG
Midway through the half, there appeared to be a distinct lack of a sense of urgency in Chiefs' ranks, and there were far too many speculative passes when they approached the opposition goalmouth.
Around the 27th minute mark, Chiefs fashioned two scoring chances in quick succession, but the best of these, a header by Samir Nurkovic, was saved by Galaxy's keeper Vasilije Kolak.
Alexander Cole put in a hell of a shift in Chiefs' three-man midfield, and Galaxy singled him out for some physical stuff. Three times he required medical attention. He reeled in an excellent goalmouth cross close to halftime, but Chiefs failed to capitalise. He was named Man of the Match afterwards.
Soon afterwards, striker Khama Billiat blasted a close-in free-kick over the crossbar. It was a rank poor set-piece effort by the Zimbabwean international.
90'- Three minutes is added.@TSGALAXYFC 0-0 @KaizerChiefs#Siyadumuza #TSG #TheRockets #WeAreHeretoStay pic.twitter.com/qAveo7M2EB
— TS Galaxy FC (@TSGALAXYFC) August 22, 2021
On the stroke of halftime, Kgaogelo Sekgota's corner kick was well met by Chiefs’ defender Daniel Cardoso, but his effort fractionally flew wide of the target.
A minute into second-half play, Chiefs looked set to score after Billiat laid on a scoring pass to striking partner Nurkovic, who was unmarked at the time. Just as Nurkovic was about to pull the trigger, referee Tshidiso Mkhwanazi ruled him offside.
As the second half wore on, both sides fashioned penetrative sorties deep into opposition territory, but the teams lacked the finishing touch in the final third. As a result, the goalkeepers were seldom called into play.
Just past the hour mark, Chiefs staged a strong counter-attack from their goal line. The ball was eventually worked to Billiat, who had loads of time to place his parting shot. Instead, he rushed his strike, and the ball ballooned high over the Galaxy posts.
Around the 70th minute, Chiefs' defence were caught napping after they failed to deal with a threatening goalmouth cross from the left flank. However, they were let off the hook after Galaxy substitute midfielder Mokete Mogaila fired a low drive wide of the upright.
With 15 minutes playing time remaining, both sides came to light with fast-paced moves to land a goal. In the end, however, they had to settle for a share of the spoils as they lacked the finishing touch on transition play.
IOL Sport