Chivaviro strikes late to salvage last gasp draw for Chiefs with TS Galaxy

Kaizer Chiefs needed an injury time goal by Ranga Chivaviro to earn a 1-1 draw with TS Galaxy in their Betway Premiership clash at Mbombela Stadium in Monday afternoon.

Galaxy looked like they were on their to register their second win in succession but goalkeeper Tape Ira conceded a corner that was followed by Chivaviro pouncing from close range for the last gasp equaliser.

With this share of the spoils, Amakhosi occupy position nine in the standings with 12 points from nine matches and are still faced with lots of work to revive their campaign. 

Galaxy, who missed out on an opportunity to record their second league win on the spin and are in 11th spot with 10 points from as many matches, are faced with a mountain to climb to recover from their poor start to the season. 

For Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi there is time to work on their deficiencies as their next game is on November 29 when they host Chippa United at Moses Mabhida Stadium as they continue to climb up the ladder.

It is similar for Galaxy, whose next league outing is in Durban against struggling Royal AM at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg where they will be out to close the year with a win.

Nabi made only two changes to the team that was stunned 2-0 by Polokwane City last week with Bruce Bvuma and Reeve Frosler coming on for Brandon Petersen and Gaston Sirino. 

On the other hand, Galaxy coach Adnan Beganovic went with his tried and tested backbone made up of Macbeth Mahlangu, Nhlanhla Mgaga, Mpho Mvelase, Puso Dithejane and Victor Letsoalo. 

The first real chance of the match fell for Ashley du Preez but he forgot the basics of finishing as his shot hit the side netting with only Ira to beat from a good position.

It was a disappointing outcome because Du Preez was well-placed to beat advancing Ira and his desperate defence after he was released by a clever pass from Mduduzi Shabalala on the half-hour mark. 

Amakhosi were shown how it’s done five minutes later when defender Samukele Kabini rose high in the box to perfectly connect with a cross from Mahlangu to give Galaxy the lead. 

To try to add a different dimension to the match, Nabi made three changes at the start of the second half with Chivaviro coming in for Du Preez, Tebogo Potsane replacing Njabulo Blom and Vilakazi taking the place of Wandile Duba. 

The substitutions seemed to have an immediate impact as Chiefs launched an attack after 47 minutes with Shabalala’s effort brushing the crossbar for safety and that was followed by a few attacks that involved Potsane and Chivaviro. 

Chiefs suffered a blow after 65 minutes when Bafana Bafana defender Rushwin Dortley was stretchered off the field with a knee injury he sustained earlier in a tussle with Mgaga and he was replaced by Happy Mashiane. 

Dortley’s departure from the field forced Nabi to rearrange his defence with Thatayaone Dithlokwe moving to centre-back to partner Inácio Miguel and Mashiane slotting at left back. 

Chiefs continued to push for the equaliser in the closing stages and they were rewarded when Chivaviro got the final touch in the dying minutes to earn a hard fought away point.