A tight game finished with the first draw between these teams in 18 meetings since 2019, and it will be Chiefs who are far happier with the point.
Delayed start … again
It seems to be becoming the norm these days, but there was a 45-minute delay to the start of the Soweto derby due to the late arrival of fans.
It is a chronic problem around the 2010 World Cup venue and, to be fair, mostly not the fault of the fans themselves, but rather the inadequate road system around the ground that creates bottlenecks.
It is unclear at this stage if the e-ticketing system was again an issue, as it had been at the last derby.
It was disheartening to read this week that it was being proudly trumpeted that there were 101,000 fans at that derby in late February, when the venue can only seat under 95,000.
This is nothing to be proud of, but rather a disgrace. It is another disaster waiting to happen, and South African football has had far too many of those already.
Appollis disallowed goal
Pirates thought they had the lead when Oswin Appollis raced onto the ball, having seemingly beaten the offside trap, and fired a brilliant finish past Chiefs goalkeeper Brandon Petersen.
The goal was immediately ruled out for offside by the linesman and it did look ‘touch-and-go’.
Was it offside? We may never know because, despite multiple breaks in play in the minutes that followed, the broadcaster refused to show a replay.
Moremi blow
Pirates, and possibly Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, were dealt a blow on 35 minutes when left winger Tshepang Moremi was forced off through injury.
He had twice tried to shake off the knock but, in the end, was replaced by Patrick Maswanganyi.
Broos was watching from the stands and will be concerned about the World Cup prospects of a player who has become an important part of his team in the last six months.
It would be wrong to say Moremi is irreplaceable for Bafana, but he had a strong showing at the Africa Cup of Nations and has maintained that form for Pirates.
Fingers crossed he is fit for the global finals.
Petersen save
The best chance of the first half fell to Kamogelo Sebelebele, whose blistering shot from 15 yards was superbly saved by Petersen.
The ball bounced back into the melee in the box and Yanela Mbuthuma’s follow-up shot was blocked by Chiefs defender Given Msimango.
It was two excellent pieces of defending by Chiefs, who created very little at the other end in the opening 45 minutes.
Chiefs lead
Chiefs took the lead on 62 minutes and it was all about the excellent run from Wandile Duba down the right.
His persistence saw him beat off two Pirates challenges before breaking clear.
He might have gone for goal himself but unselfishly squared the ball for an unmarked Pule Mmodi to turn it into the back of the net for his first Soweto derby goal.
Mmodi’s name will be alongside the goal, but it was really made by the composure and pace of Duba.
Pirates level
Sebelebele might have been denied in the first half, but he did get his name on the scoresheet on 75 minutes.
Deon Hotto’s shot across goal was only parried by Petersen and Sebelebele followed up to turn in the loose ball.
Chiefs had been on top in the second half, so the goal came slightly against the run of play.
It was a third league goal of the season for the right-back and a fifth in all competitions.
Where does this leave us?
Pirates now have an uphill battle to win the Betway Premiership and must rely on favours from others to stop the Mamelodi Sundowns runaway train.
The draw takes them to 59 points from 26 games, two ahead of Sundowns, but they have now played two games more.
Sundowns are in action later on Sunday when they take on Richards Bay, and the Buccaneers will be hoping for a win for the hosts.
Chiefs move five points clear in third place and will be supremely confident of finishing there to secure CAF Confederation Cup football next season.
