Lilepo saves Kaizer Chiefs’ blushes against Sekhukhune United

IT COULD well have been the case of Kaizer Chiefs still suffering the Nedbank Cup celebrations blues as they played to a 1-1 Premiership stalemate against Sekhukhune United at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday.

Their quest for a spot in the top eight would not have been helped by their getting just the single point in a match that saw them finishing a man down after Pule Mmodi was sent off late in the match for elbowing an opponent.

Chiefs remained stuck in ninth place, and will thus have to beat Polokwane City in their final match of the season and hope that results elsewhere go their way.

Sekhukhune, on the other hand, also have to win their final match if they are to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup by usurping Stellenbosch FC into third place.

An eventful first half ended even Stevens, the home side having scored early on and the visitors restoring parity right at the stroke of halftime.

Ngoanamello Rammala gave Sekhukhune the lead on three minutes with a goal he’s sure to keep for his collections.

Receiving the ball on the right side just inside the Chiefs box, his path looked closed with three Amakhosi defenders in front of him.

But he made a 180-degree turn to open them up before smashing the ball past a stationary Brendon Petersen, who clearly did not expect the shot.

A goal up so early, the side nicknamed the Porcupines had their tails up and looked to pierce Chiefs further as they took the game to the Nedbank Cup champions.

It was the Amakhosi, however, who created the next chance on the quarter-hour mark with a brilliant attack on the right seeing a good cross delivered into the box.

Yusuf Maart received the ball unmarked in the box, and just about everyone expected the skipper to slot home a second goal in as many matches, following his winner against Orlando Pirates last weekend.

But he sent the ball skywards, to Eric Tinkler’s relief on the Sekhukhune bench, while almost to a man, the Chiefs bench had their hands on their heads in disbelief.

Keletso Makgalwa then forced a brilliant diving save out of Petersen on the half-hour mark before Gaston Sirino incredulously wasted a glorious chance that he’d helped fashion himself playing a one-two with Glody Lillepo to find himself one-on-one with the Renaldo Leaner.

The Congolese showed his teammate how it is to be done during time added on for stoppages when he ran nearly half the length of the pitch to smash home past Leaner, who should have done better to see the sides going to the break on equal footing.

The status quo remained even after the second 45 minutes as the two teams shared the spoils, doing their quests for a spot in CAF Confederation Cup football and the top eight respectively no good.

But it was not for lack of trying, both sides making numerous changes to try and affect the match in their favour, but yet again, their finishing let them down.

Ramaala could have completed a brace for the home team when Petersen gifted him possession with a poor clearance.

The striker dilly-dallied with the ball when lobbing it over the advanced Chiefs goalkeeper would have yielded a goal, and when he shot, Petersen was well-positioned to make a save.

Chiefs had a similar chance on 71 minutes after Leaner had left his box to clear but Pule Mmodi’s lob went way over the goal.

Sekhkhune’s best chance after the break fell for Vusimusi Mncube on 65 minutes, but he shot wide in a one-on-one with Petersen.

Saturday’s Premiership Results

Stellenbosch FC 2-1 SuperSport United, Richards Bay 0-0 Golden Arrows, Polokwane City 0-2 Cape Town City, Orlando Pirates 1-1 TS Galaxy, Sekhukhune United 1-1 Kaizer Chiefs, Marumo Gallants 1-1 Chippa United