Soweto derby 100: Pirates recent dominance? Chiefs still rule Soweto!

Orlando Pirates may have dominated Kaizer Chiefs in recent Soweto derby matches but the Naturena-based side still rules Soweto, according to the numbers.

Sunday’s Soweto derby at the FNB Stadium was the 100th in the league since 1970 as Chiefs ran out 1-0 winners, and subsequently stretching their number of wins against Pirates to 41.

Pirates, on the other hand, have managed just 23 wins in those 100 league matches against Chiefs with the other 36 matches ending in draws.

This was also the 50th Soweto derby in the league since the inception of the PSL in 1996.

In those 50 games, Chiefs still dominate their arch-rivals.

Amakhosi have now won 14 Soweto derby matches in the league to Pirates’ 12 while the other 24 matches have ended in draws

The win also saw Amakhosi avoid being beaten by Pirates four times in a row; something that hasn’t happened in the history of the Soweto derby.

Furthermore, had Pirates won on Sunday, it would have been the first time since the 2008/09 season that they had completed a league double over Chiefs in the PSL era.

This is because the Buccaneers beat Chiefs 2-1 in the league earlier this season for what was their third successive win over their nemesis after bundling them out of the MTN8 at the start of the season.

Ruud Krol remains the only Pirates coach to have beaten Chiefs twice the same season, and he achieved that in his first season at the Sea Robbers.

Ernst Middendorp is the only coach to have beaten Pirates twice in the same season while in the Amakhosi dugout – and he did it on two separate occasions in the 2005-06 and 2019-20 seasons.  

This article originally appeared on The South African

Photo: The South African