These were exciting times at Kaizer Chiefs as Robaato Rasamu’s new manager bounce had seen them win some silverware and taken the Phefeni Glamour Boys top of the league after the first period of DStv Premiership.
Chiefs enjoyed more than a month off after the first period of the league, then a 3-1 win over Swallows on 21 December was followed by a 49-day winter break! That gave Rasamu a chance to finetune his unusual-looking 4-4-2, which worked nicely during the first few months of his reign.
A Bright Start To 2034
The long wait for football ended by welcoming 10th-place Polokwane City to the 109,500-capacity FNB Stadium, for which ‘only’ 29,762 fans showed up. Chiefs looked rusty early on but striker Nestory Irankunda eventually made their dominance pay and his strike partner Themba Baloyi and winger Pogisho Zulu added two more in injury time. Another home game followed against 9th-place Sekukhune United three days later and they laboured again, having 18 shots before midfielder Sipho Motaung came off the bench to nick three points.
A run of easy games followed as they beat Black Leopards 2-0 away, hammered bottom side Marumo Gallants 5-0, beat Casric Stars 2-0 and Zulu nicked a 1-0 at Golden Arrows. That nicely teed up a big trip to rivals SuperSport Utd, which they started well as promising striker Percy Mncube scored after six minutes. They bossed the game and Baloyi added a second then Zulu scored again straight from the kick off. Mncube teed up Baloyi for his second just after the break and they eased to a big 4-2 victory.
That was immediately followed by hosting 2nd-place AmaTuks, who scored an absolute screamer after an hour and Chiefs offered nothing in return. As a result, AmaTuks moved four points behind Chiefs with a game in hand. They got back on track fairly unconvincingly as midfielder Sabelo Dlamini’s deflected shot earned a 1-0 win over TS Galaxy. A week later, AmaTuks drew their game in hand to close the gap to three points with seven games remaining.
South African Title Race Heats Up
Chiefs found their scoring boots at home to Sundowns as a Baloyi hat trick led a 6-2 hammering of Sundowns. Rasamu then marked his 500th match in football management with a huge trip to fierce rivals Orlando Pirates. The hosts started the brighter but young winger Dante Meyer picked up the ball from a corner and curled in the opener. Pirates deservedly levelled before the teams traded goals late in the first half and the hosts took the lead for the first time then held on to deservedly win 3-2.
That defeat not only allowed AmaTuks, chasing their first-ever title after coming 2nd three times in four years, to draw level with Chiefs, it also gave Pirates an outside chance. Pirates’ progress to the Champions League semis left them with five games in hand and 18 points back. But they will have to play 10 league games, the first six of which are against teams in the bottom seven, plus a cup semi final over 27 days. However, the title could hinge on Chiefs’ trip to AmaTuks in gameweek 28.
Game 1 – Cape Town City (13th, home): The run-in started well as Chiefs put the Pirates defeat behind them by demolishing Cape Town 5-0. They racked up 25 shots and Baloyi scored a new club record four-goal haul. AmaTuks won 3-1 and Pirates won a game in hand then again at Casric Stars.
Game 2 – Swallows (7th, home): Chiefs were equally dominant next tie out, with centre-back Lerato Ntoyi scoring early on before Baloyi and winger Vusimuzi Gwala sealed an easy 3-1 win. AmaTuks won 3-0 and Pirates played three league games between Chiefs’ two games, losing one 4-3 at Black Leopards, then winning 3-0 at Marumo Gallants.
Game 3 – AmaTuks (2nd, away): The title could potentially be decided at AmaTuks’ 12,500-capacity Tuks Stadium, which was a far cry from Kaizer Chiefs’ monolithic home. But yet again, Chiefs let themselves down in the big game as they created nothing and a pathetic piece of defending gifted AmaTuks the only goal.
Game 4 – Polokwane City (9th, away): Chiefs kept the pressure on with a 2-0 win courtesy of Baloyi’s early strike and Ntoyi’s header. The next day, AmaTuks beat Black Leopards 4-1 to restore their three-point lead but Pirates were now out of it going into the final day.
Game 5 – AmaZulu (6th, home): The odds were very much against Chiefs as they hosted AmaZulu and leaders AmaTuks visited bottom of the league Marumo Gallants. Chiefs were ding their bit as Baloyi put them in front but AmaTuks scored two in the first half hour and led 4-0 at half time. Rasamu brought a fwe youngsters on and they somehow managed to draw 1-1. But it didn’t matter as AmaTuks won 8-1.
So Chiefs missed out on the title but, more importantly, a top two finish was soon confirmed as enough to secure qualification for the 2035 CAF Champions League. Chiefs finished 2nd with 72 points from 30 games, a tally easily enough to win the title in all but the first two seasons of this save and the highest total ever without winning the title. While AmaTuks’ 77 points was a new DStv Premiership record.
Second Cup Final!
Having lifted the MTN 8 cup earlier in the season, Chiefs also reached the Final of South Africa’s big domestic cup the Nedbank Cup. They reached it by beating AmaZulu, Baroka and Richards Bay before thumping Pirates 4-1 in the middle of their rivals’ fixture overload. That took Chiefs into a second cup final of the season up against another rival Sundowns, this time at their FNB Stadium.
The first half was a tense affair but Chiefs managed to take the lead before either side had a shot as Sundowns scored an own goal on 12 minutes. And they led 1-0 at the break with neither side having a shot on target. Chiefs took the initiative after the break and doubled their lead when Zulu crossed for Baloyi to tap home his 35th goal of the season. That was enough to win a poor game 2-0 and wrap up a cup double for Kaizer Chiefs!
Analysing A Successful First Season In Africa
The big positive for Chiefs this season was their league-leading defence, which conceded just 24 times, 7 fewer than any other side. They also conceded a league-low 3 goals from set pieces, all of which were corners, gave up a league-low 279 shots and kept a league-high 12 clean sheets. As a result, goalkeeper Mikhail Kozakevich won Goalkeeper of the Season as he only conceded 19 in 25.
Their attacking figures weren’t quite as impressive, yet still pretty solid. Their 73 goals was only bettered by Pirates’ 79 and AmaTuks’ ludicrous 86, that’s 2.87 per game largely thanks to having an absolutely disgraceful 17 penalties – more than one every other game and more than double Chiefs’ 8. However, Gwala set a new league record 12 assists.
Baloyi led the Chiefs’ goalscoring chart with an impressive 35 in 37 followed by Zulu (13), Irankunda (11), Mncube (8) and Gwala (6). Gwala was the top assister with 13, despite missing about three months through injury, followed by Zulu (11), Meyer and Baloyi (9) and Mduduzi Shabalala and Irankunda (7). Baloyi was by far the top performer with a 7.62 average rating followed by Meyer (7.25), Zulu (7.14) and Gwala (7.12).
Rasamu was pleased with his first season in South Africa, after which many Chiefs fans had labelled their manager with the popular Spanish phrase “El Rey De Copas” aka “The King Of Cups.” His first two domestic cup wins, alongside his two continental cups, made Rasamu by far the best Japanese manager of all time, with 570 Hall of Fame points well clear of recently retired Kashima boss Makoto Teguramori on 281.
Chiefs had plenty to be excited about as they looked ahead to continental football next season. Could Rasamu take Chiefs to new heights? Join us on Friday to find out!
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