Kingston Nkhatha last man smiling Kingston Nkhatha
Kingston Nkhatha

Kingston Nkhatha

PRETORIA. — Kingston Nkhatha was the last man smiling after SuperSport United ended Kaizer Chiefs’ unbeaten start to the Absa Premiership season last night with a 2-0 win.The Zimbabwean, who joined Matsatsantsa during the January transfer window, left the Amakhosi after a torrid time with club supporters.

On one occasion Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter labelled the boo-boys “idiots” and questioned his own future in Naturena.

In the March edition of KickOff magazine, the 29-year-old reveals that he lost sleep because of the boo-boys.

“Even sleeping became difficult because I would be asking myself: ‘What did I do wrong today?’ People were on my case, even though many others in the team also made mistakes, but they were never on them. In the end I had to put them aside and go back to work.

“You end up thinking that maybe these fans are booing because I am a foreigner and they just don’t like me for that. But at the same time I would also know that some of them just supported me for being part of the team. The trouble is that when one person starts being negative it rubs off on the rest of the crowd.”

SuperSport United scored two second-half goals to end Chiefs’ unbeaten streak at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Jeremy Brockie and Dove Wome scored second-half goals for Matsatsantsa to ensure Chiefs’ unbeaten League start came crashing to a halt.

There was an enforced change from Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter even before the game started after Tsepo Masilela pulled up injured during the warm-up. As a result, Siboniso Gaxa, who was originally named on the bench, came back in to start.

Chiefs deployed a 3-5-2 formation with Mandla Masango at right-wing-back and Gaxa at left-wing-back as Mulomowandau Mathoho, Tefu Mahsamaite and Morgan Gould held down three central defensive positions.

It was a first half of few real chances as both sides managed to play the containment game, looking like they did their homework on each other.

On SuperSport’s side, Brockie showed his confidence with two ambitious volley attempts, the first with his left foot from 24 yards in the fifth minute of the game and the other a right-footed attempt. Both went well wide.

For Chiefs, the best chances came from Bernard Parker set-pieces, where Mathoho headed one wide from the edge of the box and Gould saw a glancing header fly straight to Ronwen Williams.

United did have the ball in the back of the net in the 36th minute but after some excellent footwork from Nkhatha to fashion a deflected shot, Thuso Phala found himself in an offside position before squaring for Brockie to tap in.

Masango had the best chance of the half for Chiefs but after Parker played him into the box down the right channel, he failed to hit the target from an acute angle. — Kick-Off

 

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