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Amakhosi ajabulile! Chiefs are happy!

Amakhosi ajabulile!

This Kaizer Chiefs supporters chant - which means "Chiefs are happy" - will reverberate through the festive season right through to the New Year.

This after their beloved club gave them a lovely Christmas present by closing the year with a 1-0 win over Mpumalanga Black Aces at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.

The victory must have been made sweeter by two things.

One, it ensured that Chiefs close the year - the next Absa Premiership fixtures will be on February 10 after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) -  without losing a single league match this season.

Secondly, the victory was sweet revenge as Aces were one of the reasons Amakhosi narrowly missed out on the league title last season after beating them at the same venue.

This result saw Chiefs maintain their log leadership over Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits by a 15-point margin.

This after Sundowns came back from a goal down to beat other former title-contenders Ajax Cape Town 2-1 and Bidvest Wits were held to a goalless draw by the University of Pretoria.

Bitter rivals, Orlando Pirates also beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 to go fourth on the table, but still 20 points behind Chiefs.

As expected, this has created an interesting scenario going into the season break.

But there are still a number of questions, such as: Who will stop the Chiefs train?

What effect will this long break have on the club's form? Will it destabilise them or will it favour some?

If so, will this favour Chiefs or will it give momentum to the chasing pack?

Another tough battle that will ensue will be at the bottom of the table where clubs will be fighting to fend off the dreaded relegation.

Gordon Igesund's SuperSport United finds themselves in an unfashionable 11th position with 19 points followed by AmaTuks in 12th and Moroka Swallows in 13th with the same number of points.

The bottom three is made up of Free State Stars (18 points), Platinum Stars (17) and AmaZulu (9).

Usuthu have been propping up the table since the beginning of the season. They have even fired coach Craig Roslee and replaced him with Steve Barker.

The latter registered a win in his first outing, but ended the year on a sour note losing 2-1 to Swallows at home.

As it is the case with football, we have seen a number  of coaches lose their jobs, with the latest victims being Vladimir Vermezovic of Pirates and Ernst Middendorp at Bloemfontein Celtic.

But come January 2015, the Absa Premiership will be forgotten as Bafana Bafana embark on a mission to try and claim the Africa Cup of Nations trophy in Equatorial Guinea.

Our team last won this cup in 1996 and it's about time they made us proud once more.

There is hope as they have qualified in style, topping their group and doing so without losing a single game.

As it is that time of the year, let me take this opportunity to wish all teams, players, fans and everybody involved in football a Merry Christmas, a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

S’Busiso Mseleku is regarded as one of Africa's leading sports journalists and an authority on football. He has received some of the biggest awards in a career spanning well over 20 years. He is currently City Press Sports Editor.

Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.

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