Chiefs throw away points against Royal AM in Limpopo

Kaizer Chiefs proved once again they are far from being a finished article despite squandering a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Royal AM.

This was evident in Amakhosi's display as they looked to be cruising to a second successive Betway Premiership win after going to halftime leading 2-0 only to falter in the second half at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday.

Two fantastic goals by Ayabulela Maxwele (51st minute) and Levy Mashiane (89th minute) gave Royal a deserved point as they dominated Chiefs in the second half. 

A win could have moved Chiefs to third spot on the log, eight points behind their Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates who will look to keep their 100% record when they entertain Stellenbosch FC in Orlando on Sunday afternoon.

In a second successive match at this venue after beating another KwaZulu-Natal side Richards Bay 2-1 in a midweek fixture, Chiefs were buzzing and took a deserved lead in the fifth minute when their skipper Yusuf Maart produced a brilliant pass to set up Ashley du Preez. It was Du Preez's second league goal off a Maart pass in as many matches as they did the same against Bay on Wednesday.

Chiefs stretched their lead to 2-0 when right-back Dillon Solomons broke free on the right and squared for Wandile Duba to score his third league goal of the season. Unfortunately for Solomons the cross was his last contribution in the match as he was stretchered off having picked up what looked like a muscle strain.

Solomons was one of the two changes Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi made from Wednesday's match — Solomons' change was a forced one after Reeve Frosler was shown a red card against Bay on Wednesday.

As promised, Nabi restored playmaker Gaston Sirino in the Chiefs starting XI taking the place of Pule Mmodi. Sirino's combination with Du Preez, Duba and Mududzi Shabalala was the one that gave Royal big problems as they conceded two early goals.

It was only after trailing 2-0 that Royal started to play and could have gone to the break having halved the scoreline if it was not a combination of poor decision-making and some good saves made by Chiefs keeper Brandon Petersen.

But Petersen had no answer to Ayabulela Maxwele's strike in the 51st minute, the young striker beating him with a long-range shot after beating Rushwin Dortley. This goal meant Chiefs have failed to keep a clean record in all their seven league matches this season.

Chiefs central defenders Dortley and Given Msimang were both guilty of diving and being beaten by Mashiane on his way to score Royal's equaliser one minute before full time. 

But more worrying for Nabi will be how his side collapsed and allowed Royal to dominate them in the second half. Royal skipper Kabelo Mahlasela and Philani Sithole were also guilty of not punishing Chiefs just after the hour mark when they made some mistakes at the back. 

Sithole in particular was a menace for Chiefs on the left flank, the youngster giving Solomons' replacement Njabulo Blom a big problem whenever he charged forward with the ball. Blom was lucky to have been judged to have fouled Sithole just outside the area in one of those one-on-ones in which the former threatened to give Royal a second goal. 

It was perhaps the wholesome changes that Nabi made after the 65th minute which helped Chiefs to hold on to their lead before Mashiane pounced on a long ball to beat Petersen. Ranga Chivaviro, Mfundo Vilakazi, Samkelo Zwane and Mmodi were all introduced in the second half as Nabi looked to consolidate his team lead. 

But still Nabi will be concerned about his side's failure to take advantage of their domination in the first minutes of this match only to throw away two valuable points in the dying minutes of the game.