Cape Town City teeter on the brink of disaster as the PSL play-off spectre looms large

Cape Town City FC are teetering on the brink of disaster, with the dreaded PSL promotion/relegation play-offs staring them squarely in the face after a 2-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday evening.

This Betway Premiership loss at the Cape Town Stadium deepened City’s woes and cast their position in the PSL into alarming focus. The club now sits rock bottom in the 15-team league with 23 points from 26 games – three points adrift of the cluster of teams above them on 26.

The harsh reality is that either of their remaining two fixtures may not be enough to stave off the threat of the play-offs.

Ironically, Saturday evening’s showing was one of City’s better performances of late, with the side creating several opportunities against the best team in the league. They started positively, forcing a corner within the first four minutes and finding themselves in promising positions.

However, none of their efforts amounted to clear-cut chances, despite their fierce determination – something even Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso acknowledged, saying afterwards: “It was not an easy game.”

Ultimately, conceding two goals sealed City’s fate. The team must now regroup quickly and find a way to perform under immense pressure in their final fixtures. The spectre of play-off matches looms large, threatening to derail what had once looked a promising season following a flurry of new signings last May.

Caretaker coach Diogo Peral stressed the need for realism, acknowledging the high likelihood of having to compete in the end-of-season promotion/relegation play-offs.

“I think we have to be realistic,” said Peral. “Now we’ve got to get a win and a draw maybe, but even that possibly won’t be enough.

"So what are we looking at?

"Two wins?

"We knew that this was a game where, if we could get something out of it, then we’d be looking at a better place.”

“But we’ve also started thinking about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to plan if we’re in the play-offs. We have to. We’d be stupid not to.”

Peral added that the team would focus on their next match – away to Polokwane City on 17 May – while also monitoring results in the National First Division.

“We’ll concentrate on the next 90 minutes,” he said.

"We always put all the effort into the training sessions and everything we can for that next 90 minutes. But we’ll also be looking over our shoulders, seeing how the guys are doing in the NFD, and keeping ourselves open to all possibilities.”

Reflecting on the match against Sundowns, Peral admitted that chasing the game against such high-calibre opponents was always going to be an uphill battle.

“It’s a team that, if you go behind, you have to chase – then you’ve got a problem. We tried to stay in the game as long as possible and then hoped to take more risks in the second half. But once we conceded the goal, it becomes difficult to chase Sundowns, even at home – especially in our situation,” said Peral.