KAIZER Chiefs put an interesting twist to the Betway Premiership title race as they beat a resistant Marumo Gallants 1-0 at the Dr. Molemela Stadium on Wednesday night to leapfrog arch rivals Orlando Pirates to the number two spot with 30 points at the top of the log table.
Glody Lilepo’s Godly strike, and a Goal of the Season frontrunner in the 66th minute was enough to give Amakhosi fans an amplifier as they had already started singing the “return of the glory days” chorus this past weekend.
“This one is ours!” Those were the screams from Chiefs fans since Saturday afternoon after their arch-rivals Orlando Pirates fluffed their chances to summit the log standings when they drew 0-0 against title rivals, Sekhukhune United.
By “this one”, they of course were, and by any merger, still are – referring to the Premiership title.
“Games in hand are not points!,” as they continued. “They (Pirates) are going to fluff them (games in hand) all! (Mamelodi) Sundowns are not the same (threat as compared to the previous eight seasons when they won the domestic league title back-to-back), this is ours!”
Of course the Amakhosi fans were justifiable in their excitement. Last weekend they won their second match of the year as they beat Zesco United 1-0 in Ndola in the Caf Confederation Cup.
They opened 2026 with the biggest controversy of the year in South Africa so far, when they beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 1-0 in questionable fashion.
As a result, the points deficit between the two sides chasing each other at the top of the log, was minimised to a single point ahead of the Gallants-Chiefs encounter on Wednesday.
It is typical in South African football that when the topic is Kaizer Chiefs, the conversation becomes Orlando Pirates, and vice versa.
Anyways, with a point behind their arch-rivals, the motivation for Amakhosi as they were headed to the league match against Gallants on Wednesday night was not just to complete a hat-trick of victories since the turn of the year, but the main driver was leapfrogging the Buccaneers.
The potential of closing the points gap on Sundowns at the top of the log, was just a cherry top.
So, when Lilepo struck for Amakhosi in the 66th minute, champagne funds may have been put aside in Phefeni, even though it is still a long race to May.
