City transfer market deals done already!

If keeping your house in order was a football team, it would be Cape Town City.

The Citizens finished fourth on the DStv Premiership log after beating Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 on match day 30, despite having a bad start to the season that saw them battle with inconsistency.

While other clubs are still pondering their transfer market moves, the Citizens, according to their coach, Eric Tinkler, are long done with that business.

"We start looking at players right at the beginning of the season. We've already made decisions on what our squad is for next season. So, there will be some new faces that are coming in which we will obviously announce at the right time," he said as quoted by SABC Sport. https://www.sabcsport.com/soccer/news/cape-town-city-signings-long-concluded-says-eric-tinkler

The only dilemma that City is left with is the issue of foreign players.

With seven in total, Tinkler says they have to make a decisions on which two to let go as they can only keep five at the club.

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"We have seven foreign players and we have to make a decision on two of them because we can only keep five. So, there will be one or two changes in terms of the foreign spots. We will obviously announce that when it's the right time. With regards to Mdantsane again that announcement will be made at the right time."

We are building to create something special - Solomons.

Kaizer Chiefs right-fullback, Dillon Solomons, says despite the challenges the club faced this season, they are building something special at Naturena, and hopefully the results will show next season.

Solomons was speaking to Chiefs media department ahead of their last game of the season against Cape Town City.

"Playing for Chiefs is a big achievement for me. Being part of this team is a great experience," Solomons told www.kaizerchiefs.com,

"It has been a relatively inconsistent season for the team, but we are building to create something special, so hopefully we can win something next season. It was heartbreaking to not win any silverware playing for Chiefs but these things happen in football and , as I say, hopefully we can put that right next season."

Solomons, who has appeared 25 times for Amakhosi since joining them from Swallows FC, scoring one goal and providing two assists, says he is satisfied with his form this season, despite the inconsistency which he attributes to injuries.

"I feel my overall form has been good this season, a little inconsistent here and there, but injuries didn’t help me. For me, I think in your first season with a new club you are trying to adapt to the environment, and I think I did pretty well with that. Hopefully, next season I can kick on and give the fans something to smile about," said Solomons.

On their last game of the season, the 24-year-old says the team is in good spirits, and they are looking forward to the game.

"We are in good spirits this week. We’re looking forward to the game. Even though it’s the last game of the season, people might think our minds are not here and we’re thinking about holidays, but this is a very important game for us. We owe them (Cape Town City) one. When we went to Cape Town, we didn’t get the result we wanted. Now they are coming to us so we have to kill them off this weekend.

“We have to make FNB (stadium) a fortress. When teams come there, they have to be scared, so hopefully we can put some fear into Cape Town City on Saturday and then get the win.”

Chiefs will host Cape Town City on Saturday 20 May at FNB Stadium. Kick-off will be at 15:00.

A loss to City will see Amakhosi finishing 5th on the log.

Swallows FC, and Cape Town City, have shown what is possible against Mamelodi Sundowns.

       Image credit: Lorenz Kohler

Swallows FC held Mamelodi Sundowns to a 0-0 draw in a Dstv Premiership encounter played on Sunday afternoon at Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto.

It was a huge point earned by Swallows in their bid to steer clear of the relegation zone.

The Birds followed in the footsteps of Cape Town City, who achieved the same result against the Brazilians on Tuesday night.

Before their goalless draw against City, Sundowns had scored a goal in each of their previous league fixtures.

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The last time Downs failed to score was on 10 August 2022, when they were beaten 1-0 by TS Galaxy.

It is not only in the Dstv Premiership where Mamelodi Sundowns have been ruthless in front of goal, they have been going about the business of scoring goals in the Caf Champions League as well, including seven over two legs against Al Ahly SC.

That is why both Cape Town City and Swallows should be proud of stopping Downs from finding the back of the net.

Against Swallows, Sundowns, as was to be expected, enjoyed the lions' share of ball possession, 79% to be precise.

They also managed 23 attempts on goal, yet the Birds were able to keep Sundowns to three shots on target.

Now, it might be argued that both these goalless draws came after Downs had already been crowned league champions, and psychologically might have taken their foot off the pedal a little bit.

As true as that might be in a way, it must not be allowed to take away from the good work done by the Swallows and City.

Keeping a team like Sundowns at bay, whether they are at their best to not, takes a lot of planning, tactical discipline, and mental application from both the coaches and players. It is no small feat.

What Swallows, and Cape Town City have done, is to show what is possible against Sundowns. That, after all, they're not invincible.