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Former Kaizer Chiefs head coach Sergio Dos Santos has questioned the officiating during Saturday's Soweto Derby, expressing concern over the decisions surrounding Orlando Pirates' two goals in their 2-1 victory over Amakhosi.
The highly anticipated encounter took place at FNB Stadium on October 31, with Yanela Mbuthuma opening the scoring for the Buccaneers before Pule Mmodi restored parity for Chiefs ahead of half-time.
However, Tshepang Moremi scored in the second half to secure all three points for Orlando Pirates.
Dos Santos believes the officials made a mistake by allowing Pirates' opening goal to stand, arguing that Mbuthuma was already in an offside position when the pass was delivered.
“There is no question about it, that first goal of Pirates was offside, that is for sure,” he told KickOff.
The former Chiefs coach also raised concerns about the second goal, suggesting that Moremi's decisive effort was very close to being offside.
“Even the second goal, also from Pirates, was very close to being offside. But the first goal is definitely offside,” he added.
Despite his criticism, Dos Santos was careful not to place the entire responsibility for the result on the referee. He suggested that the movement of a Chiefs defender might have influenced the assistant referee's interpretation of the incident.
“I’m not gonna say the referee decided the game because, as the ball was played, the Chiefs player made a move. So it looked like the linesman wasn’t watching properly. To him, the movement might have made it look like the Chiefs player came back to put the Pirates player onside.”
He maintained that the defender moved after the ball had already been played, meaning the Pirates attacker was still in an offside position when the pass was made.
“But by the time the Chiefs player moved, the ball had already been kicked. When the pass was made, he was already offside,” he concluded.
Dos Santos' comments add to the debate surrounding the officiating in the derby, which ended with Pirates claiming victory over their Soweto rivals.
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