Another trophy gone! Kaizer Chiefs’ season in danger of going to ruins after elimination from the Carling Knockout

Chiefs might have won a domestic trophy last season in the form of the Nedbank Cup, but the overall campaign was less than impressive. 

This season, the hope was that there would be plenty of improvement all around, but it appears as though the Soweto giants are regressing. 

For the second season running, they were unable to compete in the MTN8 after finishing outside the top eight, forced to watch their arch rivals go on to lift that trophy. 

As if that was not bad enough, Chiefs have now been dumped out of the Carling Knockout, passing up another opportunity to lift silverware this season. 

They started the season strongly, but that now feels like a distant memory as the Glamour Boys are slowly losing ground on the teams at the top of the PSL table.

Talk of potentially winning the league has quickly died down as Amakhosi continue to fall down the log table, much to the dissatisfaction of the fans.

Chiefs are winless in their last three league matches, losing to Sekhukhune United before playing to consecutive 1-1 draws against AmaZulu and Marumo Gallants.  

This poor form leaves Chiefs in fifth place on the table with 15 points from eight matches, six points adrift of leaders Sundowns, who have played two more matches.

In the most recent disappointing outing, goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwari, who has fallen down the pecking order, grabbed his rare chance with both hands as he displayed an impressive performance.

The Rwanda international started ahead of regular number one Brandon Petersen and Bruce Bvuma against Stellies, keeping a clean sheet and saving one penalty in the shootout. 

However, Ntwari’s efforts were not enough to help Chiefs progress to the quarter finals of the Cup competition, with the pair of Tashreeq Morris and Dillan Solomons missing crucial penalty kicks.

Ntwari, though, who refused to be substituted ahead of the penalty shootout, can hold his head high after a solid showing that will likely now leave the Chiefs coaches with a slight headache. 

Across their last eight matches in all competitions, the sight of the ball hitting the net more than once has eluded Amakhosi.

The coaching pair of Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef has been vocal about Chiefs’ scoring issues, and they were hoping for a change in fortunes against Stellies.

However, the issue persists, and Amakhosi need to find a solution quickly as their season depends on it, especially given that they struggled with the same last season.  

The pair of Kaze and Ben Youssef will now have two weeks to prepare for the next match and lift their players after a disappointing loss against Stellies.

After the international break, Chiefs will be in action in the second preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup against AS Simba.

They then face their former coach, Gavin Hunt’s impressive Durban City, before the end of the month, and they will be desperate for maximum points.   

PSL

Kaizer Chiefs 

Chiefs out of CKO