Never before has a match been of such great significance to a player like defender Fabian McCarthy who scored a fine brace to help defending champions Kaizer Chiefs to a 3-0 victory against 10-man Manning Rangers at Soccer City on Saturday.

It was McCarthy first league appearance this season after missing out in the opener against Dynamos. The former under-23 defender was put on a specialised programme to lose weight. Amakhosi coach Ted Dumitru had come under fire from the club supporters for not giving the player a run.

McCarthy was given a run in the starting line-up after impressing in training and it was evident that the former Sundowns player was hungry for competitive action as he put Amakhosi on their way to an easy 3-0 win against an otherwise dazed Rangers.

The hosts could have scored more as Rangers provided little resistance. Instead, all the clear-cut chances went to waste. The maximum points might be in the bag but such missed goals could come to haunt the club at the end of the season.

New-look Rangers, under new coach Bruce Grobelaar, were no match to the defending champions and, to compound their woe, Thomas Sweswe got himself an unnecessary red card with a reckless tackle on Arthur Zwane after only 23 minutes in the first half.

Zwane had proved to be a handful for the visitors down the right and Linos Chalwe also got into the referee’s book on 17 minutes for a bad tackle on the speedy Chiefs winger.

Chiefs seized the moment and made good use of their numerical advantage from them onwards.

An unmarked McCarthy put Chiefs in the lead on 33 minutes, sweeping home a good supply from Emmanuel Ngobese on the left. The Rangers defence was caught napping on this occasion and McCarthy, making his first league appearance, did not make any mistake.

The former national under-23 defender was clearly on song giving an impressive individual display after missing out in the start of the season.

McCarthy was back in the limelight on 45 minutes heading home a Zwane supply to put Chiefs further ahead. Although Zambian junior international Collins Mbesuma - already the club’s leading scorer with five goals - laid claim to the goal, the ball had already crossed the line by the time he made contact.

The Rangers coach pulled out Kamogelo Molapisi in favour of Sanele Majola on 37 minutes in an effort to neutralise the Chiefs threat. However, the home team appeared to grow in confidence as they assumed control of the match.

Ngobese displayed some fancy footwork before laying the ball to Moshoeu. The veteran former Bafana midfielder let lose a cracking shot but keeper John Tlale got an important touch for a corner.

Derrick Spencer received a long ball on 52 minutes and for a moment appeared a good bet to score but instead he probably underestimated Tlale as he tried to pick a spot without haste, but before he could even execute the Rangers defence was all over him.

Ngobese did well coming from the left and delivered a dangerous cross into the box, as it has been the case throughout the day, the Rangers defence was at sea and Moshoeu said “thank you very much” as he fired the third on 55 minutes with his first goal of the season.

At this stage the match was over as a contest. Chiefs were pulling the strings while Rangers were chasing the shadows. Rowen Fernandez never had much to do. Alton Meiring was tightly marked and was less of a threat to Fernandez. It was not surprising when he was pulled off with Teboho Tsiu taking his place on 62 minutes.

Mbesuma had a super chance on 67 minutes when he found himself with only the keeper to beat. But the Zambia instead blasted over goals.

Schalkwyk made quite and impression with a superb volley on 77 minutes. Tlale had difficulty dealing with that and was thankful to his defence, which came to the party to clear.

Chiefs will remain top of the log, at least until Sunday, with their second victory of the season. Despite the positive result, Chiefs clearly need another deadly striker to complement Mbesuma upfront.

For Rangers and Grobbelaar it was a bad start and the Durban club will do well to correct their mistakes, particularly in attack, before the season gets into full swing. Otherwise they could end up in the Mvela Golden League should they carry on with Saturday's performance throughout the campaign.

Teams:

Kaizer Chiefs: 1-Rowen Fernandez, 4-Cyril Nzama, 6-Fabian McCarthy (Motaung Jnr 73), 29-Sphiwe Mkhonza, 5-Patrick Mabedi, 8-Tinashe Nengomasha (Schalkwyk 58), 28-Derrick Spencer, 11-Emmanuel Ngobese, 18-Arthur Zwane (Khanye 63), 91-John Moshoeu, 9-Collins Mbesuma.

Subs: 30-Aubrey Mathibe, 19-Nhlanhla Kubeka, 13-Junior Khanye, 31-David Radebe, 10-Gert

Schalkwyk, 27-Gerald Sibeko, 7-Kaizer Motaung Jnr.

Manning Rangers: 44-John Tlale, 24-Sheldon Roux, 4-Francois Mpessa, 8-Thabiso Hlalele, 15-Siyabonga Siphika (Montsi 46), 9-Alton Meiring (Tsiu 62), 16-Abraham Isaks, 10-Kamogelo Molapisi (Majola 37), 7-Linos Chalwe, 6-Dezilo Kapenya, 17-Thomas Sweswe.

Subs: 30-Gary Johnson, 27-Sanele Majola, 25-Kaizer Montsi, 13-Teboho Tsiu, 22-Phumlani Mkhize.

Yellow cards: Chalwe 17, Mbesuma 80

Red card: Sweswe 23