Race for the PSL title

Many critics have declared the race for the league title as being over a long time ago. Many critics have already awarded the league title to Orlando Pirates. The results of this weekend have shaken things up a bit and the Buccaneer followers have been awoken with the harsh reality that their team do not actually walk on water. It took a highly committed and polished Sundowns performance to expose this. Many critics are now predicting the demise of Pirates and one single game has changed the way analysts are thinking. Fortunatey for Pirates though, Chiefs failed to capitalise on Pirates’ loss and were held to a 1-1 draw against a fired up Golden Arrows team in Durban. It seems as though Chiefs are just throwing points away as they threw another 2 away during the week to Ajax. Chiefs now find themselves 6 points adrift of Pirates with a single game in hand and this could easily have been a meagre 2 points had they secured victories in their last 2 outings.

Are critics reading too much into the Sundowns result? I think so. Without taking anything away from Sundowns, Pirates did not play badly and did not deserve to lose by the margin that they did. In the first half they were by far the better team and had at least 2 goal line clearances miraculously saved. This could easily have changed the outcome of the game and had they converted just 2 of the many opportunities that they had, Sundowns would have had a job on their hands. Sundowns managed to keep the score goalless till halftime and with their lifeline came out fighting for their lives and through men forward. This was a totally different Sundowns and they fully deserved the victory based on their second half performance.

Pirates’ next game against Silver Stars is going to be very critical. Silver Stars are in great form and fresh off a convincing win. Owen Da Gama is doing wonders with the team and they are currently in 6th place, well positioned for a top 8 finish and something that I am sure would have been beyond their expectations. Will Pirates be able to bounce back from this defeat and go back to their winning ways? For once this season, the impenetrable Buccaneers have been found to be human and their weaknesses have been exposed. Pirates should still be clear favourites to win the title with Chiefs as second favourites and Sundowns, after their performance putting themselves back into contention.

Looking past the results of the weekend though and on current form, Pirates should fancy themselves for the league if they can pick themselves up from this defeat. Chiefs need to get back to winning ways because if they don’t the league title could very well be decided on April 30th when they play against Pirates at the FNB stadium. If both teams go back to winning ways, this match will prove to be the title decider.

By Lester Ash