{"id":22149,"date":"2025-08-12T13:24:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T11:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=22149"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:03:19","slug":"top-3-talking-points-from-betway-premiership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/top-3-talking-points-from-betway-premiership\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Review: Top 3 Talking Points from the Betway Premiership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The 2025\/26 Betway Premiership kicked off in lively fashion this past weekend, although goals were in short supply. Only one of the opening fixtures ended without a goal: the Limpopo derby between Polokwane City and Magesi FC, which finished 0-0 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a mixed start for the \u2018PSL Big Three\u2019, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and Mamelodi Sundowns, with just one side claiming all three points on the opening weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-chiefs-hit-the-ground-running\">1. Chiefs Hit the Ground Running<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Kaizer<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/stellenbosch-vs-kaizer-chiefs-2-0-victory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Chiefs <\/a>opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over 10-man Stellenbosch FC in front of a packed Athlone Stadium on Sunday. Nkosingiphile Ngcobo\u2019s precise free kick set the tone before Glody Lilepo sealed the victory from the penalty spot late in the game. Stellenbosch had shown promise early on despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half when Siviwe Nkwali was sent off for a professional foul on Mduduzi Shabalala. Chiefs took control after the break, making their numerical advantage count for a confident start to the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-4238269699\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-pirates-stumble-at-home\">2. Pirates Stumble at Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Orlando Pirates suffered a 1-0 defeat to Sekhukhune United at Orlando Stadium on Saturday evening. Siphesihle Mkhize netted the decisive goal shortly after halftime, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/orlando-pirates-handling-of-saleng-sparks-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the Buccaneers<\/a> will feel hard done by after twice striking the woodwork. An early mishap saw Daniel Cardoso almost score an own goal when his clearance hit the post, while Mbekezeli Mbokazi\u2019s header later met the same fate. Sekhukhune held firm to secure all three points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-sundowns-held-in-gqeberha\">3. Sundowns Held in Gqeberha<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns had to settle for a 1-1 draw away to Chippa United. Arthur Sales put the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.co.za\/sport\/soccer\/local-soccer\/three-talking-points-from-the-betway-premiership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brazilians<\/a> in front in the first half, but Khaya Mfecane\u2019s second-half strike ensured the home side earned a share of the spoils. For Chippa\u2019s new coach, Sinethemba Badela, it was a promising debut against his former employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-midweek-fixtures-all-kick-offs-at-19-30\">Midweek Fixtures \u2013 All Kick-offs at 19:30<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tuesday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mamelodi Sundowns vs AmaZulu \u2013 Loftus Versfeld Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marumo Gallants vs Orlando Pirates \u2013 Dr Molemela Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Orbit College vs Siwelele FC \u2013 Dobsonville Stadium<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wednesday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kaizer Chiefs vs Polokwane City \u2013 FNB Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Durban City vs Chippa United \u2013 Chatsworth Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Golden Arrows vs Richards Bay FC \u2013 King Zwelithini Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Magesi FC vs Stellenbosch FC \u2013 Seshego Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sekhukhune United vs TS Galaxy \u2013 Peter Mokaba Stadium<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/betway-premiership-log-standings-top-goalscorers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Betway Premiership Week One \u2013 Log Standings and Top Goalscorers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025\/26 Betway Premiership kicked off in lively fashion this past weekend, although goals were in short supply. Only one of the opening fixtures ended without a goal: the Limpopo derby between Polokwane City and Magesi FC, which finished 0-0 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium. It was a mixed start for the \u2018PSL Big Three\u2019,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":22153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"The 2025\/26 Betway Premiership kicked off in lively fashion this past weekend, although goals were in short supply. Only one of the opening fixtures ended...","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,64],"tags":[296,9773,288],"class_list":{"0":"post-22149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"category-sports-news","9":"tag-betway-premiership","10":"tag-psl-2025-26-season","11":"tag-soccer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22149"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22202,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22149\/revisions\/22202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}