Silva scores on debut as Chiefs beat Arrows 1-0 to stay on top alongside Sekhukhune

It took Flavio Silva less than 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute to show why Kaizer Chiefs signed him as one of their marquee players for the 2025-2026 season.

The Portuguese marksman scored with one of his first touches to give Amakhosi a 1-0 win over Lamontville Golden Arrows at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

This is Amakhosi's fourth victory of the season, which keeps them at the top of the Betway Premiership with 13 points after five matches — the same as Sekhukhune United, who are ahead on goal difference after their 2-0 win over Durban City in Polokwane on Saturday night.

This match looked to be headed for a dull 0-0 draw until Flavio entered the fray just before the hour mark. He was accompanied by Gaston Sirino and Mfundo Vilakazi, replacing Mduduzi Shabalala, Ashley du Preez and Pule Mmodi who had fired blanks until then.

It was Sirino who provided a pass for Flavio to announce himself to the hordes of Chiefs supporters who might have doubted his credentials as he was signed after scoring nine times in 33 matches in the Indonesian league last season.

But Silva's winner cannot be taken as a true reflection of where Chiefs are with their progress under Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi. Before Silva scored. their play was disjointed — especially when it came to the final third where they wasted so many opportunities to score in the first half. 

Though Silva scored, it was not because Chiefs completely dominated this game — though Sirino could have doubled the scoreline when Sibongiseni Mthethwa set him free with three minutes to go. 

There had been a lot of traffic going to Arrows' area in the first half and early in the second half before Silva scored, but Chiefs lacked the final pass. Arrows, on other hand, didn't play like Abafana Bes'thende of the old days, that of Lucky "Y2K" Sibeko in the 2000s that had an ability to boss and make use of their vast possession.

Manqoba Mngqithi's team relied on the counter and could have punished Chiefs a couple of times, including in the 55th minute when Junior Dion was unlucky to see his shot hitting the upright in one of those rare moments the home side surged forward.

So poor were Arrows' attempts at goals that they only had one shot on target the entire match, despite being the home side and not too far from Chiefs in terms of ball possession. 

Nabi will go to the international break happy that his side seem to be better since his arrival before the start of last season. That Chiefs have not conceded a goal in five matches speaks volumes about how Nabi has stabilised a defence that leaked 32 goals in 28 league matches last season to finish ninth on the log.

In the earlier match, Peter Shalulile of Mamelodi Sundowns broke the long-standing PSL record of a player with the highest number of goals when he scored a penalty in Sundowns' 1-0 win over Stellenbosch FC in Cape Town. It was Shalulile's 130th goal in the PSL, one better than the retired former Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and African Wanderers striker Siyabonga Nomvethe.

Other PSL results

• Magesi 1, AmaZulu 1;
• Sekhukhune 2, Durban City 0