Kaizer Chiefs’ Tunisian-born coach Nasreddine Nabi sat in the stands at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday evening to watch Mamelodi Sundowns in action against a depleted Royal AM side.
His surprising visit to Loftus would have been prompted by the Premier Soccer League’s media release on Wednesday afternoon.
The statement informed that his side’s crunch Carling Knockout Cup quarter-final fixture against Sundowns would be played next Saturday evening at the FNB Stadium (6pm kick-off).
Although the star-studded Brazilians clinched a narrow 2-1 win over Royal AM despite an overwhelming possession advantage, Nabi would not have been overly impressed by what he saw.
Royal AM, with a miserly 30% possession, managed almost as many shots on target, as reflected by the 9-8 count at the end of the match.
Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi was not happy with the performance. He said afterwards: “We were very untidy.”
Chiefs fans would also have taken heart from that display, and the ‘house full’ signs will likely go up the day before this highly anticipated quarter-final clash.
Mngqithi has already raised the ire of the Amakhosi faithful by saying that Orlando Pirates are the only team likely to trouble Sundowns in their quest for the Premiership title.
Given the team’s resurgence since Nabi was at the helm, there are promising signs that Chiefs could be a major player on the PSL front this season.
🚨 #𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 🚨
The dates, venues and kick-off times for the quarterfinals of the Carling Knockout have been confirmed. pic.twitter.com/t9rPUv3EL3
Earlier next Saturday, the cup quarter-finals will begin with Richards Bay facing Cape Town City at King Zwelithini Stadium in uMlazi (3pm).
Next Sunday, TS Galaxy will host PSL upstarts Magesi FC at Mbombela Stadium, and Marumo Gallants will host Stellenbosch FC at Dr Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein (both 3pm).
The PSL have also announced that the semi-finals will take place on the weekend of November 9-10, with the grand final set for November 23 at a venue still to be decided.
These dates may be adjusted to accommodate changes in the CAF inter-club competitions calendar.