Kaizer Chiefs suffered their fourth consecutive DStv Premiership defeat after Cape Town City beat them 2-1 at FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
In what has been a disastrous run of form since supporters returned to stadiums, Chiefs have yet to collect a single point and saw head coach Stuart Baxter sacked in the process.
After the 1-0 defeat to SuperSport United earlier this month, Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard were appointed on an interim basis which has seen them lose to Stellenbosch FC 1-0, Golden Arrows 2-1 and the Citizens 2-0.
To add insult to injury, the games against Arrows and City were the postponed fixtures, which Amakhosi had a long-protracted legal battle against the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in order for the games to be replayed due to not honouring the fixtures in December when they suffered a major Covid-19 outbreak in the squad.
It was another defensive mistake that put City into the lead on the day, as Daniel Cardoso looked to header the ball back to goalkeeper Brandon Petersen, which saw Craig Martin sneak between them to prod the ball into an empty net.
City were vibrant from thereon in, in a match they were initially adamant they would not honour due to what they deemed as double standards within the Covid-19 rules set in place by the league – which stated games unable to be honoured should be declared walkover results.
But with CAF Champions League qualification on the line, they arrived and were well worth the points against a disjointed, uninspired Chiefs squad who look devoid of confidence at present.
At the hour mark, they took advantage of the situation with their second, as Terrence Mashego fired the ball against Petersen and into the net which silenced the approximate 1000 fans who came out to the 95,000-seater arena.
Zwane opted to make a host of changes in order to get something out of the game, with the likes of Cole Alexander, Bernard Parker, Keagan Dolly, Leonardo Castro and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo making way for Dumisani Zuma, Phathutshedzo Nange, Sabelo Radebe, Samir Nurkovic and Kgaogelo Sekgota respectively.
And the changes paid dividends as they took the game to the visitors in the final stages, with Zuma pulling once back with seven minutes remaining but it wasn’t enough as City moved just one point behind Royal AM with four rounds of fixtures remaining.
Meanwhile, Chiefs, in fifth, are five points behind Eric Tinkler’s side who remain unbeaten in the league in 2022 – with no more games in hand.
