Cape Town — When the lights are its brightest and the stage the grandest, that’s when Cape Town City come out to play.
And boy did they play on a balmy Tuesday night at the 2010 Fifa World Cup stadium.
It is hard to believe this were the same City players that just three nights ago, were a tense mess in the iKapa derby against Stellenbosch, weighed down by the burden of not having won a game in their first four league outings.
WATCH: @dolly_keagan07 and Dillan Solomons lead out @KaizerChiefs on to the pitch at @DhlStadium against @CapeTownCityFC tonight! 💥💥💥 @OfficialPSL @IOLsport #SSFootball @kcfcofficial @_JessicaMotaung pic.twitter.com/AdypbLEXAg
— Zaahier Adams (@ZaahierAdams) August 23, 2022
The shackles were well and truly taken off, and Chiefs were in fact, fortunate to lose by the eventual two-goal margin.
City were on the front foot from the opening whistle, and within the first five minutes they were ahead through Darwin Gonzalez. The in-form Venuzulen striker, who netted against Stellies last Saturday too, tucked in his third goal of the season at the back post after receiving a neat pass from captain Thamsanqa Mkhize.
It was the goal City needed to lift their confidence, and quieten down the strong Amakhosi support in the stands, as they moved through the gears with ease.
City should have doubled their advantage 10 minutes later when Taariq Fielies sent his free header from a corner wide of the post.
WATCH: @KaizerChiefs Dillan Solomons' No 1 fan Jade Harris supporting her guy ahead of the big match against @CapeTownCityFC! @IOLsport #SSFootball @kcfcofficial pic.twitter.com/RvN2QJ97zi
— Zaahier Adams (@ZaahierAdams) August 23, 2022
Chiefs were being torn apart at the seams at this point, as they had no answer to the free-running City midfielders, who were finding space aplenty in crucial areas of the field.
A couple of chances fell to Taahir Goedeman with the youngster unable to take full advantage, while Wade Lekay, enjoying his first start for City, had a goal-bound shot impressively cleared off the line by Chiefs defender Njabulo Ngcobo on the half-hour mark.
City never allowed Arthur Zwane’s side to settle into any form of rhythm with the home team’s admirable discipline and dogged defensive organisation keeping Amakhosi at bay.
Fulltime!! @CapeTownCityFC take the spoils 2-0 over @KaizerChiefs and you can see how much this first win of the season means to the #Citizens. @IOLsport #SSFootball pic.twitter.com/MUWJZpn8oz
— Zaahier Adams (@ZaahierAdams) August 23, 2022
Tinkler’s side continued to work tirelessly in the second half, and were full value for their second goal when Nathan Fasika out jumped the Chiefs defence to head home the vital second goal on the hour.
Chiefs had opportunities to claw their way back into the contest, but they faced resistance from a team that were just hungrier on the night, as it showed when Fasika tracked back to make a goalline clearance himself.
With City having got their season up and running now, they can look forward to Saturdays’ MTN8 quarter-final against AmaZulu with renewed energy, while Chiefs have plenty of pondering to do ahead of their clash with Stellenbosch FC at the Danie Craven Stadium on Sunday.
IOL Sport