By Lukanyo Tshitshi
Iqraam Rayner (left) became the second soccer player to score five goals in a single PSL game since James Chamanga in 2007 when he found the net five times against Polokwane City on Saturday at Athlone Stadium. Picture: Reinhardt Hamman/BackpagePix
The Dstv Premiership displayed a magnificent piece of football to watch and plenty to discuss over the span of an exciting weekend.
The matchday 25 weekend kicked off on Friday at Lucas Moripe Stadium with TS Galaxy taking on Moroka Swallows and at Danie Craven Stadium, the struggling Cape Town Spurs welcomed another struggling side, Richards Bay.
The Urban Warriors of Cape Town took all 3 points, winning 1–0, and gave themselves a fighting chance to avoid inevitable relegation from the Dstv Premiership, as they are currently in 16th place with only 15 points after 25 games played with 18 loses, 4 wins, and 3 draws.
With only 5 games to go and a possible 15 points to turn things around, Cape Town Spurs will have pull some all-nighters.
Spurs are mathematically not relegated just yet, but their stay in the Dstv Premiership is largely reliant on Richards Bay's outcomes.
Talking to Phumlani Msibi of SuperSport after the Friday game, the head coach of Cape Town Spurs Ernest Middendorp said, "we have to do our home work we can't influence what happened on the other things [games] as long as we are having this written script in front of us and everybody is following and everybody is even more able and that's very crucial."
The following day, Steve Barkers' side took where their homeboys, Cape Town Spurs left off when they demolished Polokwane City 5–0 to extend their 23-unbeaten run in all competitions and cement their second-place position in the Dstv Premiership, which will guarantee them a spot in the CAF champions league.
Iqraam Rayners, who was named the man of the match, was a nightmare to the Polokwane City defenders and goalkeeper. Rayners scored all five goals of Stellenbosch to add his name to the books of history as he became the second football player to score five goals in a single PSL game since James Chamanga, who scored five thriller goals when Moroka Swallows defeated Platinum Stars 6-2 in 2007.
Steve Barker hailed his centre forward, saying Rayners has always been a serial goalscorer.
"He’s a natural goalscorer. You can see that he thinks of what he’s going to do; it’s not just about him taking a shot,
"You can see that he thinks ‘If I shoot now is going to get blocked so let me try to create a better angle or opportunity’. So he has always had that in him," said Barker.
Following Rayners' "Bayern Munich's Lewandowski performance", he has topped the top goalscorer chart with 13 goals, followed by Lucas Ribeiro and Tshegofatso Mabaso, who are tied at 11 goals.
In another Dstv Prem encounter, Kaizer Chiefs - who have now raised concerns among many following their recent mediocre performance - finally gave their supporters a conversation starter when they defeated SuperSport United 2-1.
Other Dstv Prem Match-day 25 results.
Mamelodi Sundowns 2 : 1 Sekhukhune United
TS Galaxy 2 : 1 Moroka Swallows
Amazulu 2 : 1 Chippa United
Royal AM 0 : 4 Orlando Pirates
Cape Town City 1 : 1 Golden Arrows
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