A lacklustre Kaizer Chiefs crashed out of the SAA Supa 8 Cup on Sunday when they were beaten 2-1 by Wits University in a tense quarter-final clash played in front of 20 000 fans at Orkney’s Oppenheimer stadium.
The large crowd and teams and officials stood for a minute’s silence for Pirates striker Lesley Manyathela, who was killed late on Saturday night in a car accident.
Amakhosi only woke up after Wits striker Stewart Murisa had netted the second and decisive goal in the 49th minute. Chiefs finally pulled a goal back when substitute David Radebe found the back of the net in the 82nd minute. Despite having the students under a lot of pressure, Chiefs failed to crack the hard-working Wits defence.
Chiefs should have been the favourites. They have had a better pre-season programme by competing and winning the Vodacom Challenge and Telkom Charity Cup. Amakhosi were also involved in a match against Tottenham Hotspur and played last month in the Asian King Peace Cup in South Korea.
The only memorable moment of a dull and disappointing first 45 minutes was the Wits opening goal scored by Ivan Winstanley, which was set up by industrious midfielder Gert Schalkwyk.
Schalkwyk threaded through a terrific ball and Winstanley held his nerve to place his shot beyond the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Brian Baloyi in the 21st minute.
Wits could have taken a 2-0 lead after 45 minutes but Murisa’s shot bounced off the upright with Baloyi beaten.
Then came the killer blow. Schalkwyk again set up the goal when he put Murisa through and the nippy Zimbabwean striker did the rest to make it 2-0 in the 49th minute.
The crowd went silent, save for the band of 100 or so Wits supporters who were loving every minute. The introduction of substitute Sibusiso Dlamini for Pule brought some life into the Chiefs game. Dlamini teased the Wits defence and brought a sense of urgency into their game.
Another Amakhosi new boy Patrick Mayo was fractionally wide with a powerful shot that screamed over the cross bar in the 70th minute.
Then, after the evergreen John Shoes Moshoeu set up Radebe for his goal eight minutes from time, teammate Tinashe Nengomashe had a shot in optional time saved by Wits keeper Wayne Roberts.
Seconds later live-wire Schalkwyk caught the Chiefs napping for a third time. This time he went for the goal but his shot skimmed the woodwork. – Sapa