Mduduzi Shabalala scored a brace before Mfundo Vilakazi and Flavio Da silva added further goals to send Kaizer Chiefs to joint-top spot in the Betway Premiership standings, following a resounding 4-1 triumph in their first ever meeting with Orbit College at FNB stadium on Tuesday evening.
Ayanda Lukhele scored Orbit’s only goal of the match on a night that sees The Glamour Boys reach 22 points after 11 rounds, and six out of six in successive games.
At the start, both teams forged opportunities in the opening moments, with Thabo Cele shooting wide for Chiefs and then Brandon Petersen saving from Mbulelo Wagaba with less than three minutes gone, and barely seconds later, Mfundo Vilakazi played a sublime ball down the right for Thabiso Monyane to run on to and cut back across goal, where Shabalala had timed his approach perfectly to be in the right place and tuck home the opening goal.
The early boost gave the players confidence to dictate play in midfield with some clever inter-passing to stretch Orbit out of their shape, with the likes of Asenele Velebayi settling in nicely on the occasion of his first league start in the Gold & Black.
Amakhosi looked to take advantage of their good start and Etiosa Ighodaro rose high to head a Bradley Cross cross wide in the 11th minute, as the Orbit defence struggled to contain the threats which were coming down both flanks.
Retreating from the adventurous intentions they displayed before conceding the early goal, Orbit gathered their forces into a low block, which offered no danger to Amakhosi’s goal, but proved difficult to break down and penetrate.
Encouragingly, the work being done on the training field seems to be paying off as the understanding among the players can be seen in their improved cohesion during matches, and the combinations begin to take shape. Despite a few close calls, the visitors managed to hold out until half-time with just the one goal deficit.
Amakhosi made their intentions clear as the second period got underway, creating a flurry of chances. Three minutes in, Ighodaro showed blinding pace to reach Shabalala’s lobbed pass but couldn’t strike the awkwardly bouncing ball accurately enough to hit the target. Young Vilakazi was entertaining the crowd with his exuberant natural talent, first by sending Yanga Madiba ‘to the shop to buy bread’ with a brilliant turn, and then waltzing through the Orbit defence to slide the ball across goal, yet there was no one there to tap the ball home.
At the other end, Petersen was alert to keep out Given Thibedi’s long range shot with a sprawling save in the 56th minute.
Chiefs scored their second in the 61st minute, demonstrating the sharpness they have introduced in recent games. Ighodaro reacted quickest when Sibongiseni Mthethwa’s shot ricocheted off a defender and when his effort was blocked by the goalkeeper, Shabalala was in the right spot again, ahead of his defender, to finish off.
