Sundowns v Chiefs headlines weekend action

The heavyweight meeting of Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs headlines a full round of weekend action in the DStv Premiership from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 August 2022.

The Brazilians and the Amakhosi will meet at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on the afternoon of Saturday 13 August, with the former looking to bounce back from a shock midweek defeat at home to TS Galaxy, while the latter were much improved in a 3-0 win over Maritzburg United – putting behind them a losing start to the campaign at the hands of Royal AM.

Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane was happy with his team’s midweek showing and believes there is more to come if they can continue to improve.

“Ja, look, you know sometimes football is a funny game, I think the past game we played very well compared to today and we lost the game,” Zwane explained.

"And [against Maritzburg] we played in patches but we were clinical in front of goals and it could have been more.”

The round opens on Friday evening with Maritzburg United hosting Swallows FC at Harry Gwala Stadium. The Birds head into the match high on confidence after a 3-2 win over Cape Town City on Tuesday in which Siboniso Mtshali netted an injury-time penalty, but the Team of Choice are tough customers on their own ground.

Saturday, aside from the Sundowns v Chiefs clash, also features log leaders Royal AM aiming to maintain a perfect record when they travel to Stellenbosch, Richards Bay looking to continue their impressive start to life in the Premiership when they welcome Sekhukhune United to King Zwelithini Stadium, and Cape Town City under pressure to avoid a hat-trick of losses when they face hosts AmaZulu at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in the late game.

“I am very proud of my boys tonight, because I thought we played some very good football,” said Citizens coach Eric Tinkler after the defeat to the Birds.

“We didn’t take our chances, the first cross they put in the box they scored from, and their header is fantastic, the second goal they score is a fantastic strike from outside the box and you find yourself 2-0 down. But we stuck to what we planned and got ourselves back in the game.”

He added, “Just keep fighting, just keep doing what you are doing, because we are playing good football.”

Sunday’s opener has Orlando Pirates welcoming Chippa United to Orlando Stadium and looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season, while the final match of the round at Mbombela Stadium sees TS Galaxy chase the scalp of another Tshwane club when they welcome SuperSport United.

DStv PREMIERSHIP WEEKEND FIXTURES

Friday 12 August

19:30: Maritzburg United v Swallows FC

Saturday 13 August

15:00: Stellenbosch FC v Royal AM
15:00: Mamelodi Sundowns v Kaizer Chiefs
15:00: Marumo Gallants v Golden Arrows
17:30: Richards Bay v Sekhukhune United
20:00: AmaZulu v Cape Town City

Sunday 14 August

15:00: Orlando Pirates v Chippa United
17:30: TS Galaxy v SuperSport United