MIHLALI BALEKA
Kaizer Chiefs’ quest for redemption and to rescue what’s left of their season will continue tonight when they face TS Galaxy in the DStv Premiership.
Chiefs will host the Rockets at New Peter Mokaba still wounded from the 5-1 beating they got from rivals Mamelodi Sundowns, which confirmed their seventh title in a row. But while that added more misery to Amakhosi’s barren season, Chiefs do not have the time to sulk and moan – their top-eight finish is still not guaranteed.
So they’ll have to get back in the saddle tonight.
Speaking yesterday, upon their arrival in Polokwane, defender Reeve Frosler conceded they were still disappointed by their last result, but they have to move on.
“The mood has been okay,” Frosler explained. “Obviously, the last result was disappointing, but that’s in the past and we are trying to go again this week.
“The preparations have been going well and we know what we need to work on. So hopefully, come tomorrow evening (tonight), we’ll put in another good shift.”
Indeed, Chiefs must be at their best against the Rockets who have been one of their bogey sides, dating back to their first meeting in the 2019 Nedbank Cup final.
The Rockets, who were in the NFD at the time, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in South African football, beating Chiefs to become the first lower-ranked side to win the premier football knockout competition.
Their rivalry has only intensified since TS Galaxy have been promoted to the top flight.
They’ve found it tough to lose against Amakhosi. In nine meetings, Chiefs have beaten Galaxy only once, losing three games while the other five games have been drawn.
The Rockets beat Chiefs in the reverse leg at home in August last year.
Frosler and his teammates will want to avenge that loss this evening, especially given that their top-eight position is not secured. Chiefs, in eighth, are tied on 33 points with ninth-placed Polokwane City and there are only four games remaining in the league.
Frosler, though, is not thinking too far ahead to the last game of the season on May 25, choosing instead to focus on the job at hand against the Rockets.
“The aim is to still go out there and win all the games. But like I said, it’s one game at a time. We need to focus on Galaxy this week,” he said.
“And when that is safe and won, we’ll focus on what else is happening. So, it’s important to take things as we go along with the season.”
Galaxy might be ahead of Chiefs on the log – in fifth and with a five-point lead – but such coach Sead Ramovic knows they are not yet home and dry. And after coming back from a nail-biting 0-0 draw with Sekhukhune United, where they were denied a legitimate goal, Ramovic mapped out their targets.
“We have five more finals in front of us, and I think we need five or six points to reach our target – and that’s to finish in the top eight,” Ramovic said after the game.
Ramovic knows that won’t come easy, though, and he’s called on his troops to be at their best week in and week out.
“We need to be consistent. We need to be at our best and get every point that we can get,” Ramovic explained. “I said it at the start of the season, we have fantastic teams in our league and coaches, who are fighting to improve their teams and finish in the top eight.”
And with one of those teams being Chiefs, the Rockets have ample reason to be confident.
Meanwhile, SuperSport United will want to beat Sekhukhune United tonight and build on their first win of the year, which came against Royal AM last week.