OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 12.30pm.
KAIZER Chiefs reached the the final of the Rothmans Cup soccer championships, despite losing 1-0 to Orlando Pirates in the second leg semifinal at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Chiefs carried a valuable two goal cushion from their 3-1 win in the first leg into Saturday’s match, as they played most of the game on the defensive.
The game started on a dramatic note when within the first two minutes both teams came close to hitting the target. Pirates striker Jerry Sikhosana connected with a pass from the edge of the box, but fired wide.
After Sikhosana’s effort, Chiefs striker Pollen Ndlanya came close on two occasions, but both times goalkeeper Williams Par saved miraculously.
Pirates starting getting frustrated, and the end result was that skipper John Moeti got booked by referee Ian McLeod for upending Thabo Mooki in the fifth minute.
The Buccaneers, however, started playing more positive soccer and only desperate clearances from the defenders and the athletic ism of ‘keeper Brian Baloyi saved some tricky moments in the heart of the Chiefs’ defence.
The sides went into half-time at 0-0.
After the break, Pirates suffered a big setback when Moeti was again booked by McLeod, and and received his marching orders. Pirates seemed to be unfazed, however, and caught Chiefs napping when a cross by Sikhosana was nodded in by Sibusiso Zuma in the 57th minute.
Chiefs also lost a player six minutes on when Joseph Tshisevhe was shown the red card for striking Sikhosana.
Chiefs did not deserve to come away with such a small score, and can be lucky that there were not at least three more goals scored against them.