The Betway Premiership League title’s destination will likely be decided on Saturday when Orlando Pirates play Durban City at the Orlando Stadium.
Pirates need to beat City to end Mamelodi Sundowns’ eight-season monopoly of the title after the Tshwane Giants stumbled in a 3-2 loss to TS Galaxy midweek.
Sundowns’ dominance has long been frowned upon as it reduces the league into a monotony devoid of excitement, especially when they won it with plenty of games in hand.
Since the arrival of coach Miguel Cardoso, such monopoly has subsided with the team dropping points to teams it would have been favoured to beat.
But Cardoso’s lament after the Galaxy loss was rather disappointing when he attributed it to fixture congestion which had seen them play seven matches in 21 days.
Sundowns’ calendar also involves the CAF Champions League in which they have qualified for the finals against FAR Rabat of Morocco.
The first leg is set for the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday.
Now he is throwing tantrums when realising that Pirates stand on the brink of pipping Sundowns to the league title
Cardoso also let his tongue loose after his team was held to a 1-1 draw by Kaizer Chiefs which swayed the title in Pirates’ favour, accusing officials of colluding against his side.
But interestingly, he showered his players with praise in the 11-goal thriller which saw Sundowns beat Siwelele FC 7-4 to set a new PSL record for most goals in a single match.
Admittedly, the stress of seeing the title slip away could be too much for any coach but to blame fixture congestion while also accusing officials of conspiring against a team in favour of another is a tad unprofessional.
Cardoso has always known the Sundowns calendar would pile up if they progressed in the continental competition and should have taken contingency measures.
Now he is throwing tantrums when realising that Pirates stand on the brink of pipping Sundowns to the league title.
The PSL should throw the book at him to explain his utterances.
Fortunately, his boss, Tlhopie Motsepe, was on hand to dilute his vitriol by instead crediting other teams for raising the bar to provide stiff competition to Sundowns.
Cardoso needs to look no further than the English Premiership where Arsenal and Manchester City are in a two-horse race for the league title, while Arsenal have also qualified for the Champions League final against defending champions Paris Saint Germain.
For the record, the 2025/2026 Betway Premiership season will go down as a thrilling spectacle with the title decided in the last two matches, creating a compelling competition.
Pirates could still lose their two remaining matches against City and Orbit College to take the league title back to Chloorkop.
Daily Dispatch
