20 January 2019, by: Thabang Kgeledi

PSL Talking Points – Matchday 19

Orlando Pirates are back to playing the football that had them as one of the favourites to win it all at the beginning of the season. Sundowns cut Chiefs’ lead by two points and the Highlands Park horror show continues. Check out these and a couple more talking points in another exciting Matchday weekend in the Absa Premiership:Orlando Pirates have found a new lease on life under new German coach Joe Zinnbauer (who is now known as JZ to supporters because his name is too difficult to pronounce). They swept aside an ailing Highlands Park side 3-1 over the weekend. The Buccaneers have won four and drawn one in Zinnbaur’s five games in charge. This situation can now go one of two ways:

1. Orlando Pirates keep their upward trajectory and end the season on a high or…

2. After their initial good performances, they begin to tail off. This is known as the ‘New Coach Syndrome’ or ‘Ole Gunnar Solkjaeritis’.

Orlando Pirates supporters will be hoping it’s the former rather than the latter. New coaches, with their new philosophies and ideas, can motivate a group of players and turn a bad performing team into world-beaters. But, this feeling of excitement can wear off quickly and turn world beaters into a bunch of losers again.

Five games is a small sample size but Pirates seem to be playing a more fluid brand of football than they did under Rhulani Mokwena. Players aren’t afraid to make mistakes and they also look to be on the same page. It’s still early but Zinnbauer may have the answers to Orlando Pirates questions.Sundowns came away 2-1 winners in the Tshwane derby against Supersport United on Sunday. The Brazilians cut Kaizer Chiefs’ lead at the top of Absa Premiership table from nine points going into the weekend to seven as Amakhosi drew against Black Leopards.

Sundowns have a favourable upcoming fixture list compared to Chiefs. In their next three games, Downs play teams in the bottom half of the table while Chiefs play teams in the top 8, including an on form Orlando Pirates. This league is far from over and it’s going to be hard work for Kaizer Chiefs to stave off the champions.After starting the league campaign better than expected, Highlands Park are now going through tough times. They have lost their last three games (including Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Pirates), they conceded 10 goals in said games, and their coach apparently resigned without knowing he did.

Coach Owen da Gama believes their rotten run of form is only a minor set back. Let’s hope for their sake this is the case. They aren’t in the relegation zone yet but they are only six points off it and if they continue performing the way they have been recently, its only a matter of time.Cape Town City finally had something to celebrate this season when they came away with a 2-0 win against Bidvest Wits on Saturday evening.

City were not left to rue a spot-kick miss by Thabo Nodada as Kermit Erasmus put them ahead in the 66th minute. Wits went gung-ho looking for an equalizer and left themselves exposed at the back. The Citizens capitalised when Craig Martin killed Wits off with a second goal with only three minutes of regulation time left.

Bidvest Wits lost an opportunity to close the gap between them and Chiefs. Before they start of the game they were 11 points behind log leading Amakhosi and also had three games in hand. Should they have won their three games they would have only been two points adrift.

People in Cape Town were celebrating like it rained. City should be well pleased with the performance and the result. They jumped three points ahead of the relegation spots.Stellenbosch leapt out of the relegation zone with their second win in a row, this time against fellow strugglers Baroka. This was a big win. A bad team needs to win against other fellow bad teams because of A. You get points off them B. You get points off them C. You can feel good knowing you aren’t as bad as they are.

Stellenbosch have played well this season but have lacked that premier league quality to finish the chances they create. They came into the game confident after an impressive 4-1 win against Highlands Park.

After a tight first half, they got their lead in the second through Waseem Isaacs. Baroka pushed for an equalizer in the final moments of the game but the Stellies stood firm. The Cape Town based team are now five points clear of the drop zone.

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