Johannesburg - The Soweto Derby is a soccer rivalry between Premier Soccer League's Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in South Africa a...
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Johannesburg - The Soweto Derby is a soccer rivalry between Premier Soccer League's Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in South Africa and is considered one of the most fiercely contested matches in African football.
It was first contested on 24 January 1970 and matches between the two rivals attract a large fanbase. Based in Soweto, Johannesburg, the rivalry stems from the fact that Kaizer Chiefs was formed by a former Orlando Pirates star Kaizer Motaung.
Motaung had left Orlando Pirates to go play professional soccer in the now defunct North American Soccer League for a team called the Atlanta Chiefs.
Upon returning home, he found a lot of infighting among the hierarchy at Pirates. He decided to form a Kaizer XI, which initially played friendly matches with various clubs in South Africa and then this entity evolved to the Kaizer Chiefs.
The Soweto Derby has often produced stalemates in the PSL era, though Kaizer Chiefs’ 11 wins gives them the edge over their bitter rivals Orlando Pirates’ eight victories.Doctor Khumalo Played for Kaizer Chiefs |
Nineteen of the 38 league meetings between these clubs have finished deadlocked since the first league clash between the two in the modern day PSL era on January 18, 1997.
Eleven 1-1 draws have been played out with a half a dozen goalless results, while two contests have stretched out to a 2-2 finish.
However, this time Amakhosi will head into the latest edition of Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest football match with their fans feeling their opponents’ dreadful league form gives them an edge to record yet another victory over their rivals.
Also weighing up to the Khosi faithfuls’ corner in the ring is the fact that history in league matches between the two clubs in the PSL era favours them.
Chiefs’ 11 league victories over Pirates includes the last league meeting between the two clubs – which AmaKhosi walking away 2-0 winners just under a year ago with Siphiwe Tshabalala and Siphelele Mthembu on target.
Seven derbies have been played since Pirates last took all three points from this fixture with the 3-2 on March 17, 2012 being the last time The Bucs took maximum points.
Both teams have completed a league double over each other only once through the past 19 years – Chiefs doing it in the 2005-06 season when they won 2-0 and 1-0, while The Bucs responded with home and away wins in the 2008-09 season.
Strangely, at the start of the PSL in 1996 it took Chiefs five attempts before they recorded their first league win over their rivals, only finding the winning formula on February 13, 1999 when the late Thabang Lebese struck a brace for Amakhosi with Sibusiso Zuma scoring the solitary goal for Pirates. - Online Sources
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