Nasreddine Nabi starts his Chiefs tenure with a win over Gallants
Coach Nasreddine Nabi started his Kaizer Chiefs tenure with a 2-1 win over Marumo Gallants in their opening Betway Premiership clash at Toyota Stadium on Saturday evening.
Gallants were first to break the deadlock just eight minutes into the game through Christopher Sithole.
Chiefs found an equaliser in the 17th minute of the showpiece courtesy of a Mduduzi Shabalala strike.
Meanwhile, super-sub Mfundo Vilakazi scored the winning goal in the 80th minute of the showdown.
Below are the talking points from this encounter.
FIVE NEW SIGNINGS START FOR KAIZER CHIEFS
Five out of the seven new signings for ‘The Glamour Boys’ started with the game under the tutelage of new coach Nasreddine Nabi.
The five new acquisitions that started with the match are; Fierce Ntwari, Inacio Miguel, Rushwin Dortley, Bradley Cross and Gaston Sirino.
WHY NJABULO BLOM WAS NOT IN THE KAIZER CHIEFS MATCHDAY SQUAD
In a pre-match interview with SABC Sport, coach Nabi confirmed that Blom is not yet ready and he needs a “bit more physical preparation.”
“He’s not ready yet, he needs a bit more physical preparation. But I am very happy about the signing of Blom, thank you very much to the committee, he’s a big, big player – but I need to protect him because he’s not ready 100%. But I’m excited to see Blom starting for the team soon” said the Tunisian mentor.
FORMER KAIZER CHIEFS PLAYERS IN THE MARUMO GALLANTS MATCHDAY SQUAD
The Bloemfontein-based outfit came into this tie with a number of players who previously played for the Soweto giants.
Gallants knew they could count on their experience, having represented Amakhosi before. The players in question included Joseph Molangoane, Daniel Akpeyi, and Kamohelo Mahlatsi.
JOSEPH MOLANGOANE SENT OFF
The ex-Chiefs midfielder Molangoane was shown a straight red card in the 75th minute of the contest after he brought down Wandile Duba in a clear scoring opportunity.
CHIEFS OPEN LEAGUE SEASON AWAY FROM HOME FOR THE 19TH TIME
According to Opta Jabu statistics, Amakhosi opened their league campaign away from home for the 19th time, more than any other PSL side.
In the current top-flight teams, only Polokwane City FC [75%] and Richards Bay FC [100%] have a higher proportion of season openers away than the Chiefs’ 68%.
In addition, the Soweto giants came into this game having won the opening league game of the season just once in the last nine years, drew five and lost three in the process, and failed to score on MD1 in each of the last four seasons.
OTHER PSL MATCH RESULT
In another league fixture played in the afternoon, Royal AM and Cape Town City FC played out to a 1-1 draw at Harry Gwala Stadium.
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