In a match that could be classified as a game of two halves, The Amakhosi rode the first half storm and came back in the second forty five minutes to power their way past Free State Stars in Rustenburg on Wednesday evening.

The visitors dominated proceedings in the first half and Chiefs had Itumeleng Khune to thank as he came up with three big stops to keep his goal intact, while those saves helped him grow in confidence through the game. Almost straight from the kick off for the second half, Mabhudi Khenyeza struck to give Chiefs the lead and when Onismor Bhasera and Shaun Bartlett found a second and third goal in the seventy fifth minute and ninety second minute, respectively, it made certain of victory for Chiefs, which is now their ninth win a PSL fixture over Stars since the 1996 – 1997 season.

All Stars

Free State Stars will be ruing the chances that they let slip by in the first half as they controlled much of the play in the opening forty five minutes and first went close to scoring in the seventh minute, when Duncan Lechesa struck from thirty yards out and had Itumeleng at full stretch along the ground. The Chiefs keeper blocked the shot and pounced on the rebound before Lechesa could make up any ground on him.

Two minutes on and Khune was called into action again, this time he managed to push the ball up and over from Madimabe’s pile driver from the edge of the eighteen yard area. Stars still continued to keep up the pressure and as Cyril Nzama slipped on the wet surface as he and Diyo Sibisi were chasing a long ball, the Stars player allowed the ball to bounce in front of him and hit the ball on the half volley but Khune was again there to make the stop.

Breaking the drought

When Mabhudi Khenyeza collected a long ball from Itumeleng Khune in the first minute of the second half, he did not expect to find himself in such a good goal scoring position from the right hand side of the 18 yard area. Khenyeza shot across the face of goal and hit the ball past the out stretched arm of Kennedy Mweene to score for the second time this season, his first from open play this campaign.

Khenyeza’s goal was the first time Chiefs had found the back of the net after going since the 25th August without a league goal, in all it was 456 minutes since Chiefs last league goal.

Spectacular

Chiefs took the game by scruff of the neck in the second half and were good value for their lead, and pressed ahead looking for a second cushion goal and it duly arrived in the 75th minute, in a move started by Bhasera and finished off by the Zimbabwean international.

He was able to lay a pass off to Kaizer Junior who was to his left, the Chiefs striker raced down the wing and Stars keeper Mweene came out to challenge Motaung, but he thought quicker and moved wider. Before crossing the ball over Mweene with his left foot where Bhasera was waiting in front of an empty net for the return ball, and he spectacularly smashed the ball home with a scissor kick.

Gift wrapped

Shaun Bartlett entered the field as a substitute in the second half and on his thirty-fifth birthday, he got the perfect present when he was able to head home a Jimmy Tau cross in injury time at the end of the game. Bartlett rose above the Stars defence and headed the ball low towards the corner where it first hit the right hand upright before rolling across the line.

The win on Wednesday evening broke a two and a half year jinx for Chiefs as they won for the first time at the Olympia Stadium in any competition since the 25th April 2005, when they managed to defeat Wits University by a solitary goal.

Match Information:

Kaizer Chiefs (4-4-2): 32. Itumeleng Khune, 2. Jimmy Tau, 3. Onismor Bhasera,

4. Cyril Nzama, 6. Fabian McCarthy, 8. Tinashe Nengomasha, 27. Gerald Sibeko,

18. Arthur Zwane, 13. David Obua, 7. Kaizer Motaung Junior, 5. Mabhudi Khenyeza




Cautions: 6. Fabian McCarthy (Foul on Diyo Sibisi) 25 min, 7. Kaizer Motaung Junior (back chatting) 50 min

Substitutions: