AS Kaizer Chiefs tasted their first league win, Free State Stars slipped down to familiar territory at the bottom of the Absa Premiership standings.
Giovanni Solinas celebrated his maiden and biggest league win as Amakhosi coach, an emphatic 4-1 victory away to Cape Town City on Saturday.
But as Solinas earned some reprieve following a stormy start to his tenure, Luc Eymael appears to be headed for disaster with Ea Lla Koto. With only one win from six matches, Stars are certainly not the team that sizzled with a top six finish last season.
They sit second from bottom in the league following their 1-0 defeat to Polokwane City, a spot they often occupied before Eymael arrived last season.
But Solinas got his due reward as his plan finally came together and he will be hoping to build on that as Chiefs visit Stars at Goble Park tomorrow (7.30pm).
“My boys deserved to win the game and I want to thank my guys because they played a brilliant game. Everyone played very well today,” said Solinas.
On-form Khama Billiat scored twice, with Siyabonga Ngezana and Philani Zulu netting the other two in the 4-1 rout.
For Eymael, on the other hand, it may get worse before it gets better, as he has been handed a tough-looking run of fixtures.
Amakhosi are next, followed by another home fixture against inconsistent Highlands Park at the same venue on Saturday.
His future is already under scrutiny and it wouldn’t be far-fetched to suggest he is now fighting for his job.
It is always a feisty affair when Eymael comes up against the Soweto giants, sparked by his well-known tiffs with former Chiefs coach Steve Komphela and the Nedbank Cup semifinal humiliation in May.
But the focus is more on rebuilding the team into the force it was last season.
“It takes a lot of work‚ a lot of commitment to replicate last season,” said Eymael.
