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Tau, Riveiro, Davids, Appollis and Vilakazi GFXGOAL
Sthembiso Nkabinde

Jose Riveiro's Orlando Pirates send strong Caf Champions League warning as Percy Tau gets baptism of fire on debut! The biggest winners and losers

Another weekend of football has come and gone and GOAL takes a close look at those who performed well and those who fell short of expectations.

In the Premier Soccer League, a total of 11 goals were scored over the past weekend, with Chippa United and Marumo Gallants bagging four of those in a 2-2 thriller at Buffalo City Stadium on Saturday.

A day later, Kazer Chiefs returned to winning ways with a crucial 1-0 win over high-flying Sekhukhune United at the Moses Mabhida Stadium to close out the exciting weekend of league action in Mzansi.

In the Caf Champions League, Orlando Pirates hogged the spotlight as far as South African teams are concerned as they defeated the mighty Al Ahly 2-1 in Cairo on Saturday, thanks to goals from Relebohile Mofokeng and Tshegofatso Mabasa.

The country’s other representatives in the competition, Mamelodi Sundowns, were held by Moroccan outfit AS FAR 1-1 at Loftfus Versfeld as they managed to squeeze into the next round after finishing second in their group.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the weekend's action involving South African players and coaches around the world.

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  • Gavin Hunt, SuperSport UnitedBackpage

    LOSER: SuperSport United

    Oswin Appollis, the sought-after Bafana Bafana star, had his skills on display again this weekend as he orchestrated SuperSport United’s demise.

    Up against his former side, the Kaizer Chiefs transfer target showed no mercy with a stunning performance that downed Gavin Hunt’s charges.

    Appollis was the star of the show, scoring the game’s only goal in a 1-0 win over the Tshwane outfit on Friday at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

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  • Fadlu Davids of Simba SCBackpagepix

    WINNER: Fadlu Davids

    Fadlu Davids’ Simba SC continued their brilliant start to the campaign under the guidance of the South African.

    The former Orlando Pirates coach is having time to remember in Tanzania having led his side into the quarter-finals of the Caf Confederations Cup.

    Davids has won 17 of his 21 games in charge of Simba in the Tanzanian Premier League and the Confederations Cup.

  • Peter Shalulile, Mamelodi Sundowns, January 2025.BackPagePix

    WINNER: Mamelodi Sundowns

    Although they didn’t quite win their match, it was a job done for the Tshwane giants as they collected the point they required from their clash with AS FAR to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

    Sundowns took an early lead through the deadly Peter Shalulile but Nasreddine Nabi’s former side equalised in the second half through Zauhzouh as they forced a share of the spoils.

    The Brazilians have now reached the last eight in the last seven editions of the competitions in succession and will hope to clinch their second star after last winning the competition in 2016.

  • Mfundo Vilakazi, Kaizer Chiefs, July 2024Backpagepix

    WINNER: Mfundo Vilakazi

    The youngster, who is having a breakthrough season at Amakhosi, showed once again why there’s so much hype around him.

    Vilakazi came off the bench to net the winner as Chiefs edged Sekhukhune United at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.

    The 19-year-old danced through the defence to curl a shot into the bottom corner and clinch all three points for the Glamour Boys on the day.

    The victory marked the second win in three matches for Chiefs, propelling them to fifth place in the PSL table ahead of the Soweto derby on February 1.

  • Percy Tau, Qatar SC, January 2025Qatar SC

    LOSER: Percy Tau

    It was a baptism of fire for the Bafana Bafana international in his debut match for his new side Qatar SC as they suffered a heavy defeat.

    Tau’s new side was humiliated 5-1 against Al Nasr in the Qatar-UAE Super Cup game played at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on Friday evening.

    The Lion of Judah, who is trying to get back to his best after a sorry end to his time in Egypt with Al Ahly, was a starter on his debut but could not prevent a thumping loss.

  • Jose Riveiro, Orlando PiratesBackpage

    WINNER: Orlando Pirates

    Under the guidance of their astute Spanish tactician Jose Riveiro, Pirates have been near unbeatable this season.

    They sent another strong message as they beat Egyptian giants Al Ahly 2-1 in the Caf Champions League on Saturday night in Cairo.

    The stunning victory, courtesy of goals by Mofokeng and Mabasa, meant that Bucs finished top of Group C on 14 points, four ahead of the Egyptian powerhouse.

    This also placed Pirates in an ideal situation for the upcoming draw as they will avoid other group winners and face teams who finished second.