The referee and his assistant benevolently handed Kaizer Chiefs a 1-0 victory over a 10-man Santos at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday night after a perfectly good 84th minute equaliser was disallowed amid scenes of protracted chaos and angry recriminations.

The referee initially awarded Santos a penalty although substitute Eleazer Rodger's header appeared to have crossed the goalline by a foot, then consulted his linesman and inexplicably decided to finally resume the game with a bounced ball after a delay of almost five minutes in which the standard of officiating appeared to plunge to the depths of this often maligned profession.

With enraged Santos players complaining bitterly over their stroke of cruel fortune, the referee seemed at a loss of how to handle the situation in what ended as a distasteful opening PSL game at the sleek stadium erected as one of the venues for next year's World Cup.

And coming in the wake of the equally glaring blunder in the World Cup qualifying game between France and the Republic of Ireland earlier in the week, the damage being done to soccer's image worldwide by FIFA's refusal to employ technology to avoid such farcical mistakes has been magnified.

Chiefs, however, appeared to have the game at their mercy after opening the score through new Bafana Bafana cap Reneilwe Letsholonyane in the 61st minute, with Santos reduced to 10 men a matter of minutes later when Thabiso Ntloana was red-carded for an infringement on bustling striker Nkosinathi Nhleko.

To their credit, however, Santos battled until what proved a bitter ending for them, with the championship challenge of the third-placed Cape Town club drastically diminished in the process.

Chiefs, meanwhile, vaulted into a challenging position for the league title - although what might have been a sweet success was ultimately soured by earning what was a hollow victory when the ball was cleared a foot behind the line for what should have been a Santos equaliser.

The game was curiously played in Port Elizabeth because of the unavailability of a suitable venue in Cape Town and such was the strict security and red tape in gaining admission that the local officials gave the impression they believed the World Cup was already in progress.

In the circumstances, it was a relief in some respect that the attendance was relatively modest ? thereby preventing as much chaos at the turnstiles as that which ultimately ignited on the pitch.

Although both teams had a limited number of on-target scoring opportunities, Chiefs' veteran goalkeeper Arthur Bartman again showed his sterling value as an emergency signing and proved the difference between the two teams.