Kaizer Chiefs made heavy weather of reaching the semifinals of the MTN8 competition after edging out a makeshift Bloemfontein Celtic 1-0 in the quarterfinal cup-tie played at the Rand Stadium on Saturday night.
After an action-packed first half Amakhosi went to sleep in the second and the match fizzled out.
Amakhosi were all over a disjointed Celtic in the first half. The only surprise was that it took 22 minutes before Chiefs broke the deadlock with a stunning Knowledge Musona free kick.
Celtic were forced to play without a number of their new signings including striker Nathan Paulse, midfielder Clifford Mulenga and regular first team goalkeeper Patrick Tignyemb of Cameroon who were not registered in time, did not have proper work permits or were waiting for clearances.
Celtic had to field back-up keeper Thabani Stemmer, a former Orlando Pirates keeper who had not played a competitive match for the past two seasons.
However, Stemmer was not at fault for the defeat. Celtic showed a lack of depth and fighting spirit, especially in the second half.
It was an even tougher debut for new coach Clinton Larsen, who will now have a good idea of the difficult task ahead if he hopes to improve on Phunya Sele-Sele’s sixth place finish in the Premiership last season.
Chiefs took the initiative from the kick-off. Abia Nale missed a sitter in the third minute after he collected a great cross from Musona but the Chiefs winger shot wide from close range.
Celtic’s Denis Kalala tried his luck from 20 metres in the sixth minute when he fired his shot over the Chiefs’ crossbar.
A minute later at the other end Mandla Masango also shot wide. Nale had a shot deflected for a corner on 12 minutes.
Stemmer showed his rustiness when he forced a Masango shot that was going wide for a corner in the 15th minute.
Chiefs midfield star Siphiwe Tshabalala also wasted a chance to break the deadlock in the 20th minute when he had only Stemmer to beat and from close range, shot straight at the Celtic keeper.
Musona finally gave the Chiefs fans something to celebrate with his perfectly worked free kick that flew into the far corner of the net in the 22nd minute to give Amakhosi a deserved 1-0 lead at halftime.
Stemmer did well to stop a long-range shot from Reneilwe Letsholonyane two minutes later as Chiefs piled on the pressure looking for a second goal.
The home side went to sleep in the final 10 minutes of the half.
Celtic’s Dino Ndlovu and newcomer Danny Venter combined with a clever one-two that ended with Venter shooting fractionally wide in the 35th minute. Celtic almost equalised with another good move two minutes from the break started by Kalala who set up Ndlovu who shot wide of the Chiefs goal.
The second half failed to live up to the action in the first 45 minutes. Celtic showed more urgency but could not find a path past the well marshalled Amakhosi defence.
However, Chiefs lost the plot in attack and ran out of ideas and failed to test Stemmer after the break.
Celtic’s dangerous attacking midfielder Prince Olomu who had a quiet first half came closest to equalising in the 67th minute but his long range effort flew centimetres wide of the post.
Musona was wide of the target in the 76th minute with a rare shot at the Celtic goal in the second period.
Neither side showed any real urgency and the home fans left happy with Chiefs in the semifinals of the competition they won two years ago. – Sapa