Amakhosi coach hopes Chivaviro’s brace is just the start

Matshelane Mamabolo

Cavin Johnson is hopeful that Ranga Chivaviro’s brace against TS Galaxy is the beginning of a goalscoring spree for the striker, who is yet to live up to his promise with Kaizer Chiefs.

Signed by the Amakhosi amid much fanfare following his brilliant showing at Marumo Gallants, where he scored freely last season as the Limpopo outfit shone in the CAF Confederation Cup, Chivaviro was expected to bang them in at Chiefs.

But the Amakhosi Chivaviro and the one who starred for Gallants have been like chalk and cheese this season, as the big striker struggled for goals and thus featured sparingly for Johnson’s team.

On Tuesday night, though, he showed just why he came highly recommended as he scored either side of the half-time break to help Chiefs earn a point out of a 2-2 draw, despite playing the entire second half a man down in Polokwane. Mozambican defender Edmilson Dove was sent off late in the first half for an over-the-top tackle that narrowly missed Kamohelo Sebelebele’s leg.

The score was 1-1 at the time, Chivaviro having shown his tenacity by fighting incessantly to win possession in the Galaxy box and then blasting the ball home past Fagri Ntwari for the game’s opener on 19 minutes.

Sphiwe Mahlangu equalised with a spot-kick just after the half-hour mark, Dove having handled the ball in the box before he later got sent off for that challenge.

Chivaviro made it 2-0 with a sweetly struck shot from a free kick on the edge of the Galaxy box, only for Chiefs to render his efforts useless by conceding the equaliser from a corner, leaving Johnson to lament what could have been – particularly because he said they’d worked on defending such set pieces before the match.

“Ranga showed good mentality. He was positive and today he scores two goals, and I hope next week, he comes and scores four goals.”

Chiefs are away to AmaZulu on Sunday (5.30pm kick-off), and will obviously be without Dove, but it is the forwards that have to deliver – and Chivaviro will be expected to pick up from where he left off in Polokwane.

No doubt Johnson will use the few days before the match to iron out the defensive lapses that ensured Galaxy scored twice away from home in the league for the first time this season. He particularly lamented the second goal that they conceded, as they allowed Mahlangu a free header from a corner kick.

They’d done so a few minutes earlier, only for another Mahlangu, MacBeth, to head over with no one challenging him.

Chiefs were in eighth place before Wednesday night’s matches, with three games to go, and they will be hard-pressed to get enough points from those encounters to ensure they make the cut for the season-opening competition.

If only to make up for what has been a 2023/24 campaign they would no doubt quickly want to forget ...