Vuvuzela South Africa

Action is heating up in the PSL and the matches being played around South Africa this weekend will certainly make a difference for some of the teams who are on the brink of either moving up to become contenders, or who are losing the plot and dropping way down in the standings.

Kaizer Chiefs will wear their new 40th Anniversary Kit for the first time tonight when they host Celtic.

Kaizer Chiefs v Bloemfontein Celtic

Kaizer Chiefs will be sporting their 40th Anniversary kit when they tackle Bloemfontein Celtic at the Super Stadium on Saturday night.

After a poor start to the Season Amakhosi have consistently been picking up speed and hope to make this encounter with Bloemfontein Celtic four on the trot which could see the team move up to second in the PSL standings.

Santos v Lamontville Golden Arrows

Santos have the chance to close the gap on SuperSport United when they entertain Golden Arrows at the Coetzenburg Stadium on Saturday night.

The People’s Team are seven points behind Matsatsantsa and will be looking to their home matches as a source for the points to catch them.

Abafana Bes’thende head have struggled of late and will look to put their slump behind them when they travel to the Western Cape.

Arrows currently find themselves ninth in the standings, and they head into the match against title-hopefuls Santos on the back of a defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Free State Stars.

SuperSport United v Jomo Cosmos

SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt is refusing to underestimate Jomo Cosmos when they entertain them at Loftus Versfeld Saturday night.

United currently sit seven points clear at the top, and the team will be looking to Anthony Laffor to continue his fine form following the midfielder’s second brace of the season in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Moroka Swallows.

Jomo Sono’s charges are currently rock bottom of the PSL standings with the defending champions sitting pretty seven points clear at the top of the standings.

Hunt will have a fully fit squad to choose from and will welcome back midfielder Jabu Maluleke, who returns from suspension.

Free State Stars v Mpumalanga Black Aces

Mpumalanga Black Aces will be hoping that the addition of new striker Darrel Smith will inspire them to victory over Free State Stars at Goble Park at the weekend.

The Mpumalanga outfit are currently second-from-bottom in the PSL standings, but a win on Saturday will see them leapfrog Stars in the table.

AmaZulu v Mamelodi Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns will be looking to keep the pressure on SuperSport United with a win over AmaZulu at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The Brazilians are currently in fifth position after their 1-0 win against Bidvest Wits, nine points behind log leaders SuperSport United.

Maritzburg United v Ajax Cape Town

Ajax Cape Town will be looking to affirm their place in the top four of the league when they take on a confident Maritzburg United side at Woodburn Stadium.

The Urban Warriors go into the match on the back of a 0-0 draw against AmaZulu but they will be buoyed by the possibility that a win might move them from fourth to second of the league.

Bidvest Wits v Moroka Swallows

BidVest Wits’ run of 12 matches without a win can no longer be descried as a slump. Roger de Sa’s men face a crisis and must attain a result against Moroka Swallows on Saturday.

The Clever Boys’ atrocious form has seen them free fall down the table and they now lie 14th, just two points clear of second-from-bottom Mpumalanga Black Aces.

Both sides find themselves in the bottom-half of the standings.

Platinum Stars v Orlando Pirates

Platinum Stars coach Steve Komphela is hoping his side will be on the right end of some well-deserved luck on Saturday when Orlando Pirates are the visitors to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

The former Bafana Bafana captain is gaining a reputation for his outbursts against referees. It was his great misfortune therefore when, he was forced to watch as his side went down 3-1 to Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday due in large part to a dubious penalty decision. Wednesday night’s result was the second time this season against Amakhosi that Komphela could rightly feel aggrieved.

The Buccaneers will be looking for their first away win in over three months when they travel to Platinum Stars for Saturday’s PSL clash in Rustenburg.

Sources and pics: www.football365.co.za and www.soccerladuma.co.za

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This was a high scoring weekend of excitement and upsets at the ABSA Premiership around South Africa – seven goals were scored on Sunday.

Sunday Matches in the ABSA Premiership

Ajax Cape Town 0 – Kaizer Chiefs 3

Kaizer Chiefs showed their class once again at Newlands Stadium on Sunday afternoon when they beat Ajax Cape Town 3-0. Fortunately for them their supporters behaved this time, not like the previous encounter between the two sides at the same venue when Amakhosi fans behaved like true soccer hooligans when their side was unceremoniously dumped out of the MTN8 tournament by the Urban Warriors . OK, the ref was dodgy, but the violence and damage resulted  in Chiefs getting the biggest fine in PSL history.

This time it was a different Kaizer Chiefs that ran onto the pitch and lifted themselves smartly from the bottom of the PSL league. I know that the fans, who will never loose faith in their team will be on a high now, expecting  their team to perform like this for the rest of the season.

Kaizer Motaung Jnr

Stunning Opening Goal by Kaizer Motaung Jnr

Kaizer Motaung Jnr, who has had to endure boos and ridicule from his own team’s supporters after struggling to find form this season, started Chiefs’ dramatic return to form with a stunning volleyed opening goal in the 29th minute that made keeper Hans Vonk looking like he was standing still, waiting for a taxi.

The other goals were scored by Thabang Rooi and Nkosinathi Nhleko, as the visiting side enjoyed superiority throughout the match.

In fairness to the Cape Town side, however, it needs to be pointed out that the Urban Warriors have a contingent of five players currently in Egypt with the South African team at the World Under-20 championships and some others on suspension.

Bidvest Wits – Jomo Cosmos 1

Bidvest Wits fortunes in the PSL continued to soar after they beat struggling Jomo Cosmos 3-1 in a hard fought clash at Milpark on Sunday.

Clever Boys Great Season Continues

The win sees the Clever Boys enjoy one of the best starts to a Premier Soccer League season.

Coach Roger De Sa’s men are in second spot with the same points as Bloemfontein Celtic – 17 points from their nine)fixtures, only two adrift of leaders Orlando Pirates. (Wits have a better goal difference than Celtic).

Fabricio Rodrigues, Calvin Kadi and Marawaan Bantam scored for the Students, while Koena Mathopa countered for Ezenkosi.

Saturday Matches Absa Premier Leagues

SuperSport United 1 Golden Arrows 1

SuperSport United and Golden Arrows  drew 1-1 at the Super Stadium on Saturday night.  It was Arrows’ seventh draw in 10 league fixtures played so far this season and the result ended United’s three match winning streak

Free State Stars 0 – Orlando Pirates 0

Free State Stars managed to hold league leaders Orlando Pirates to a 0-0 draw at the Charles Mopeli Stadium on Saturday.

Bloemfontein Celtic 2 – Platinum Stars 1

Bloemfontein Celtic continued their impressive unbeaten run by claiming the three points from their encounter with Platinum Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Saturday evening.

AmaZulu FC 2 – 1  Moroka Swallows

Check out the 2009/2010 Log

Photo: Kaizer Motaung Jnr - Kickoff

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The second edition of the MTN8 competition kicked off on 4 August 2009.  The eight teams that have finished in the top eight of the Absa Premiership will slug it out to see who will be the last man standing. The winners take home an R8 million first prize.

2009 MTN8 Wafa Wafa -  Results 4 August

Kaizer Chiefs 3 Bidvest Wits 1

Amakhosi’s goals were scored by Nkosinathi Nhleko, David Mathebula, Knowledge Masona, and Mark Haskins scored Wits’ goal.

AmaZulu 2 Supersport United 2

(Match ended 33 after extra time and AmaZulu won the lottery of penalties to advance to the next round)

On Saturday Chiefs will welcome Engen Santos in an Absa Premiership opener at Orlando Stadium. Kick off for the game is at 20h15.

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MTN 8 Wafa Wafa Competition gets underway tonight with AmaZulu v Supersport United in Chatsworth in Durban and Kaizer Chiefs v Bidvest Wits at the Rand Stadium. (Venue changed from Orlando Stadium because of power failure problems).

Top Eight Teams

The top eight teams contesting this year’s MTN 8 are Ajax Cape Town and Golden Arrows, both MTN sponsored teams, as well as AmaZulu, Bidvest Wits, Free State Stars, Kaizer Chiefs (2008 winners), Orlando Pirates and Supersport United.

The MTN 8 Wafa Wafa knockout tournament consists of the league’s top eight teams from the previous season who compete against each other in a revamped version of the exciting season-opener cup competition to take home eight million rands prize money and plenty of pride.

Supersport Complains About the Draw

Reigning PSL Champions, Supersport United Coach Gavin Hunt has hit out at the MTN 8 draw, believing that the sides finishing in the top four of the PSL should be guaranteed a home tie.

It may be because Matsatsantsa have lost away from home to AmaZulu in each of the last two PSL seasons and will need to be on top of their game if they are to go one better than last season. Supersport last won this competition in 2004.

AmaZulu Coach Neil Tovey

AmaZulu Looking to Consolidate

Neil Tovey is now in charge of AmaZulu who were disappointed to miss out on a place in the Telkom Charity Cup after being ahead at one stage. After a good finish last season, they will be looking to consolidate and do better.

According to Kickoff, newly appointed Usuthu skipper Pere Ariwerayi also exuded confidence when talking of meeting the League champions.

“Them winning the League title twice is history now. This is a new season and AmaZulu have undergone change. We as players have set our goals and one of them is to win one of the cups on offer. We are ready for them.”

Kaizer Chiefs v Bidvest Wits

Kaizer Chiefs must have mixed feelings as they kick off their MTN 8 campaign – they won Vodacom Challenge where they beat none other than Manchester City in the final but they lost last weekend’s Derby to their arch rivals Orlando Pirates in a penalty shootout in the semi finals in the Telkom Charity Cup.

As for Bidvest Wits, Roger de Sa has plenty of new faces in his team and although Wits may not  had a pre-season that was as intense as their rivals you can be sure the Clever Boys can be expected to well prepared and well drilled for this clash and may just pull off a win.

Picture: AmaZulu Coach Neil Tovey. Kickoff

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