Weekend Wrap: 'Tito' missing again, Downs in VAR plea, Chivaviro saves Chiefs!

In this week's edition of Weekend Wrap, where KickOff gives a round-up of the weekend action every Monday morning, with a particular focus on the biggest talking points, we have Kaizer Chiefs surviving a big a scare and Mamelodi Sundowns in the VAR debate.

Williams wins BIG

Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns captain was the big winner at the CAF Awards 2024 held in Marrakech, Morocco. 

The shot-stopper walked away with the CAF Inter-club Player of the Year accolade as well as CAF Goalkeeper of the Year, beating the likes of Manchester United's Andre Onana.

READ | Chiefs to be without Sirino and five players

Stade d'Abidjan 1-1 Orlando Pirates 

Bucs continued their unbeaten run in the CAF Champions League with a draw against the Ivorians away from home, although yet again, Jose Riveiro's starting line-up raised a few eyebrows. No Patrick Maswanganyi yet again, and no Monnapule Saleng after his impressive display against Al Ahly seven days prior.   

Relebohile Mofokeng remained a thorn in the side of the opposition defence in the first half, eventually winning his side a penalty that was calmly converted by Evidence Makgopa. However, the visitors failed to hold on to their lead as the men in red and white piled on the pressure in the second half, ultimately getting the equaliser via Ousmane Méitée.

Despite the result, Pirates go to the top of Group C. 

Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 Raja Casablanca

Meanwhile, The Brazilians had no such troubles, registering a vital victory over the Moroccan giants. It was a superb moment of magic from Ronwen Williams, via a long ball to locate Kutlwano Letlhaku, that led to the goal, as the youngster zigzagged through the opposition defence before expertly crossing to Iqraam Rayners, who made no mistake from the edge of the box in the 65th minute. 

The match was not without controversy Raja saw two of their goals disallowed and head coach Ricardo Sa Pinto called for the implementation of VAR.

Lunda Sul 0-1 Stellenbosch

Still on continental football, Stellies collected a valuable three points after losing their first two CAF Confederation Cup group stage matches.

It was a tense affair, but Steve Barker's men held their nerve and hit the crossbar three times before Devin Titus headed home in the dying minutes to stun the home side.

TS Galaxy 1-1 Kaizer Chiefs 

In the Betway Premiership, Amakhosi failed to climb into the Top Eight as they needed a last-minute equaliser by Ranga Chivaviro to salvage a point after Galaxy had gone 1-0 in the first half thanks to Pirates development product Samukelo Kabini. 

It was a moment of madness that led to the equaliser as goalkeeper Ira Tapé inexplicably left his area unmanned during a Chiefs throw-in. Thankfully, the Mpumalanga side managed to avert danger by conceding a corner, with the lanky net-minder needing treatment after hurting himself while backtracking in an effort to get to the throw-in. 

While writhing in pain and lying on the ground, he got a scolding from Mpho Mvelase for his nearly costly action, and from the resultant three corner kicks as Nasreddine Nabi's men turned on the heat, Happy Mashiane swung a brilliant one that ricocheted off the post and found a grateful Chivaviro ready to tap it in.

With that, a huge sigh of relief among the Khosi Nation, but heartache and despair for what feels like a loss for The Rockets.  

AmaZulu FC 2-1 Royal AM

Elsewhere, Arthur Zwane and Vusumuzi Vilakazi could breathe a sigh of as sigh of relief as AmaZulu climbed to 13th place at the expense of KZN rivals Royal AM at King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday. The home side were by far the dominant outfit in the first half, with Etiosa Ighodaro, in particular, a tough customer to deal with for the Thwihli Thwahla defence.

After John Maduka's men cheaply lost the ball in the 36th minute, Usuthu launched a quick counter, and with the defence in sixes and sevens, goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto came way out of his box to avert the danger, but an alert Rowan Human was first to the ball and played in Hendrik Ekstein, who netted the opener.

They would add a second early in the first half, before Royal AM pulled one back... but it was too little, too late. 

Polokwane City 1-0 Marumo Gallants

Rise and Shine continued their good start to the season, this time defeating Gallants via the boot of Mokibelo Simon Ramabu. 

The game, though, was not without its fair share of drama after the Bahlabane Ba Ntwa bench appeared to have an 'altercation' with a ball, whom they felt was delaying play in favour of the home side. In the post-match press conference, Dan Malesela blasted the behaviour of the ball boys on the day, insinuating they were acting under instruction.

Other results:

Richards Bay FC 1-0 Golden Arrows

Chippa United 0-1 Cape Town City

SuperSport United 1-0 Magesi FC

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