A goal in the 113th minute in extra time by super-sub Arthur Zwane earned Kaizer Chiefs a nail biting 1-0 win over hard-running Free State
Stars in their Nedbank Cup first round clash played at the Super Stadium on Sunday.
It was a frustrating match to watch as neither side looked to have the firepower to break the deadlock until Zwane struck late in extra time to the relief of the Amakhosi fans.
There was plenty of drama in an action packed first half which saw both teams reduced to 10 men. First to be sent off by referee Peter Mabuza was Chiefs defender Valery Nahayo in the 31st minute for a rough tackle on Stars’ Reuben Cloete and then the Burundi skipper appeared to kick Cloete on the ground and Mabuza showed him the red card.
It came as no surprise when Stars were reduced to 10 men after Mabuza sent off Paulus Masehe for a second bookable offence 10 minutes later.
Chiefs looked vulnerable especially in defence. Stars, playing without their suspended top strikers Sthembiso Ngcobo and Tebelo Mofokeng, took the initiative and had the shaky Amakhosi defence under a lot of pressure.
Amakhosi keeper Itumeleng Khune managed to get a fingertip to a shot from Siyabonga Mdluli in the 12th minute.
Chiefs had another lucky escape in the 18th minute when Matome Madimabe headed against the Chiefs post.
Chiefs strikers Jose Torrealba and Kaizer Motaung Junior were given no room to move and as a result Stars keeper Kennedy Mweene did not have to make one difficult save in the first 45 minutes.
But Mweene was called into action three minutes after the restart when he brilliantly stopped a pile-driver from Abia Nale.
Stars Prince Olomu robbed Chiefs skipper Jimmy Tau in no man’s land in the 52nd minute and raced goalwards only to slip as he was about to shoot. A minute later Nale blasted over the Stars crossbar.
Khune did well to save a well struck Cloete free kick in the 62nd minute.
But with Chiefs fans baying for Torrealba’s blood, coach Muhsin Ertugral eventually replaced the off-form Venezuelan striker with Nigerian Zito Ogbonna.
Ogbonna failed to get a foot to a clever defence splitting ball from Reneilwe Letsholonyane in the 73rd minute as Chiefs started to get the upper hand.
Nale thought he had scored in the 78th minute but Mabuza disallowed the goal for a foul on Mweene.
The Stars keeper then pulled off a great save from a powerful shot from Ogbonna with nine minutes to play. Khune showed his courage when he dived at Olomu’s feet to deny the Stars striker a goal in the 87th minute.
In extra time, Chiefs midfield workhorse Tinashe Nengomasha made the tackle of the match when he blocked Mdluli from scoring a certain goal in the 92nd minute.
But the goal-shy sides battled through a dull 30 extra minutes until Zwane stuck a low hard drive that beat Mweene. – Sapa