Dribbling wizard Emmanuel Ngobese gave Kaizer Chiefs a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Santos during their Castle Premiership match at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night.
It was a bad start for Marc Byrne, who was named as Santos’s new coach on Wednesday morning by chairperson Goolam Allie.
Santos have themselves to blame for the defeat after dominating the better part of the first half, where they squandered several scoring opportunities.
The main culprits in this first match of the year were the troublesome Thembisile Kanono, Carlos Scott and veteran striker Jean Marc Ithier.
The game got off to a flying start with both sides in search of an early goal. Kanono shot over the crossbar, with goalie Rowen Fernandez at his mercy, in the 11th minute.
Kanono once more failed to give his side an early lead when he shot straight into the hands of Fernandez, who had a relatively quiet evening.
Ngobese finally broke the deadlock in the 57th minute with a powerful shot that gave goalie Brendon Wardle no chance after a long cross from Arthur Zwane.
Ngobese, the former Moroka Swallows, Tembisa Classic and Zulu Royals player, was named man of the match.
Amakhosi made a double substitution in the 60th minute when Shoes Moshoeu and Lucky Mzizi came on for Gerald Sibeko and David Radebe, respectively.
Four minutes later, Kanono was replaced by Marawaan Bantam. Chiefs later introduced Derick Spencer for danger man Collins Mbesuma.
A moment of silence was observed prior to the start of the match in respect of the victims of the tsunami disaster. — Sapa