MOGAMAD ALLIE: Now that was a goal nobody will forget for a long time

For the umpteenth time, as Kaizer Chiefs again proved on Saturday, form goes out the window when going into a game as big as the Soweto derby. Inevitably, it seems this venerable adage applies to derbies played in virtually every sport around the world.

Somehow teams, even those in woeful form, manage to summon the courage and motivation to lift themselves for the big occasion, and so it proved again on Saturday when the Amakhosi overcame their great rivals for the fourth time in succession in league meetings.

Little did it matter that Arthur Zwane’s side were a touch off colour in the lead-up to the highly anticipated meeting with their fierce rivals. Chiefs fans were understandably afflicted with prematch nerves given that their team went into the encounter after three games without a win that included a loss to Chippa United and two draws, of which their goalless stalemate against AmaZulu scuppered their chances of reaching the MTN8 final.

In contrast, Pirates were buoyant after their 3-0 dismantling of the imperious Mamelodi Sundowns in their MTN8 semifinal second leg a week earlier. Add to that the fact that the Buccaneers were unbeaten in their previous four games, conceding only once in that run, and it’s easy to see why Jose Riveiro’s team were touted as favourites.

Given the way things panned out over the 90 minutes, one would never have guessed that Pirates were the form team. Chiefs’ dominance and their ability to create chances should have seen them winning by a bigger margin. It really was a case of the form book being tossed aside.

Even though there have been many more exciting derbies in the past where the quality was a few notches higher, there aren’t many that have been embellished with the quality of Yusuf Maart’s 74th minute match-winning strike.

The 87,400 fans who savoured the wonderful experience of watching a Soweto derby can now also add “I was there to see it” when the 27-year-old midfielder’s goal is still discussed many years later.

Maart’s wonder strike is virtually guaranteed to not only be a contender for the PSL goal of the season award but will surely come into the reckoning for Fifa’s Puskas Award that honours “the most beautiful” goal of the calendar year. 

Spotting Siyabonga Mpontshane meandering on the edge of his penalty area, Maart had the vision and class to float a 55m shot from just inside his own half over the head of a retreating Pirates goalkeeper into the back of the net to clinch a memorable victory.

That goal brought back memories of Mor Diouf’s strike for SuperSport United against Mamelodi Sundowns on March 10 2013. With the greatest respect to Maart’s goal, the Diouf strike from just behind the centre circle in his own half was even better. It was also netted in a derby and also turned out to be the match winner that had Matsatsantsa coach Gavin Hunt dancing a jig on the touchline. 

Pirates were also on the receiving end of a similar strike by Hlompho Kekana in their 3-1 defeat against Sundowns in November 2017. Wayne Sandilands, who was with Sundowns when Diouf unleashed his wonder strike, was again the unfortunate goalkeeper to be on the wrong end of another ultra-long-range effort. That goal was no fluke as the former Sundowns midfielder scored from a similar distance for Bafana Bafana in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Cameroon 18 months earlier that won him a Puskas award nomination.

Goalkeepers around the country should be wary of a similar fate befalling them. In the modern game in which custodians are expected to play the sweeper-keeper role as well as playing out from the back, opposition players will no doubt be trying to emulate Maart, Diouf and Kekana.

But back to Saturday’s game. How good was it to see FNB Stadium almost packed to its 94,000 capacity for the first time since February 29 2020, just before the advent of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Unfortunately Chiefs won’t be able to use that victory momentum over of their fierce rivals to kick-start their season as their next league game, against Golden Arrows, is in two months’ time on New Year’s Eve due to the enforced break occasioned by the World Cup that starts in Qatar in three weeks’ time.

Pirates, on the other hand, despite the bitter disappointment of their defeat, have the chance to get back on their horse quickly when they meet AmaZulu in the final of the MTN8 at a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday evening.

There’s nothing like winning the first silverware of the season to soothe the hurt of a loss to an arch-enemy, particularly one that last won a trophy nearly seven-and-a-half years ago.