Pretoria – In his many years as a coach, Stuart Baxter could hardly have had a debut as chastening and tragic as this, when his first official match in charge of Kaizer Chiefs produced a shaming, heavy defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns here on Sunday.
Amakhosi had gone into this match with genuine belief that, having recruited several high-profile players in the off-season, they would make a positive start to the season but instead were left fearing for the worst.
A disastrous, chaotic spell of defending coupled with Sundowns’ precision ensured Chiefs were knocked out of the MTN8 at the first hurdle, the humiliating result probably putting pressure on Baxter before the league campaign starts this weekend.
That this was all over inside the opening half-hour – by which time Sundowns had already established a 3-0 lead through goals from debutants Thamsanqa Sangweni and Tebogo Langerman, as well as Lebohang Mokoena – will have made the pain even more unbearable for the Amakhosi faithful. Another debutant, Edward Manqele, headed in the fourth goal to complete a comprehensive rout nobody would have predicted.
As he searched for positives from a very depressing situation, Baxter will have pointed out that his team didn’t concede in the second half and actually managed to score through Reneilwe Letsholonyane, and that they won a penalty which Josta Dladla missed, but that could hardly convince anyone.
This was annihilation, Sundowns taking full advantage of glaring lapses of concentration in the Chiefs rearguard, so much-vaunted in the pre-season thanks to the arrival of Bafana trio Mulomowandau Mathoho, Morgan Gould and Siboniso Gaxa.
As it was, misfortune struck and Gaxa limped off injured after just 10 minutes, with Chiefs already a goal down, but the biggest source of concern for Amakhosi was the performance of Gould and Mathoho as a central pairing.
Sundowns’ opening three goals all came from set-pieces, with the marking non-existent in the Chiefs box, pointing to a general lack of leadership at the back.
Baxter put this down to poor discipline, but to think that Chiefs actually conceded a similar goal in a friendly against Orlando Pirates last weekend tells a story of a coach who hasn’t prioritised how to defend dead ball situations. “We let in goals from set-plays,” Baxter said afterwards. “It was a discipline issue. Once they scored the first goal, they were winning all headers, and that was our biggest problem. We completed too neatly out there.”
Baxter was correct. Perhaps only rough play would have stopped Sundowns, who, led by the inspirational Teko Modise, were sensational, even though their first goal amounted to a gift.
Chiefs’ defenders simply stood by and watched as Sangweni leapt to meet a cross from a corner, heading the ball past Itumeleng Khune.
A few minutes later, Langerman made it 2-0, also profiting from shocking marking as Chiefs failed to clear a corner kick, the ball falling on to the path of the midfielder who sent it into the net with his powerful left foot.
At this stage, Sundowns were buzzing and Modise, in particular, started to take charge in midfield, where Chiefs are evidently bound to be exposed this season as they lost a natural workhorse in Tinashe Nengomasha.
It was from a Modise freekick that Sundowns extended their lead. Khune had actually made a brilliant save to block a Manqele header, but, with Chiefs defenders slow to react, Mokoena pounced on the rebound.
A slight injury to Wayne Sandilands allowed Chiefs to strategise, as they formed a huddle in the centre, but that didn’t help them much as Manqele, set up by a majestic Modise cross, headed in the fourth goal to rub it in.
Amakhosi did fashion two chances in the first half, Lehlohonolo Majoro intercepting a poor back-pass in the Sundowns defence, only for Sandilands to produce a brave block. The Sundowns goalkeeper also tipped over a goal-bound Bernard Parker shot, but there was no question who was the dominant force heading into the half-time break.
Chiefs took longer to emerge for the second half, presumably because they were getting a roasting from Baxter, and it seemed to have worked as they restricted Sundowns to half-chances, and were able to take one through Letsholonyane, who sidefooted home after a move initiated by Sithembiso Ngcobo.
“This result shows we have a lot of work to do and it’s going to take time to make progress,” Baxter said. Will he be given that time? – The Star