Lehlohonolo Majoro scored all of his side’s goals as Kaizer Chiefs thrashed Black Leopards 4-0 at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday night to power into the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup.

The striker racked up a hat-trick inside the opening 16 minutes of the match to effectively kill off the game as a contest and added one more for good measure in the early stages of the second half.

Leopards, having won five of their previous six games heading into this encounter, were tipped to provide something of an upset against their high-profile opponents. However, they were hit by an early blitzkrieg from the Soweto giants.

Chiefs went into the lead as early as the ninth minute, as Siphiwe Tshabalala picked up the ball in midfield before playing a great reverse pass to put Lehlohonolo Majoro in on goal – the striker coolly finished with a low left-footed finish.

Three minutes later it was 2-0, as Tshabalala again assisted for Majoro to score, playing in a square pass from the left of the penalty area that the former AmaZulu player poked home from close range.

Tshabalala played a role in Majoro’s hat-trick goal on 16 minutes, playing in a wicked in-swinging free kick that was flicked-on by Lincoln Zvasiya, half-stopped by goalkeeper Azwindini Maphaha and finally tucked home on the rebound by Majoro.

After establishing a 3-0 lead so early on, Amakhosi took their foot off the pedal somewhat, though Leopards created only one clear chance: striker David Zulu dribbled his way through the Chiefs backline in injury time at the end of the first half, but he was unable to beat goalkeeper Arthur Bartman.

Majoro put the game beyond doubt with his fourth goal in the seventh minute of the second half, running onto a pass from Bernard Parker before shooting over Maphaha. The striker was substituted to a huge round of applause three minutes later by Sthembiso Ngcobo.

Chiefs created further half chances to extend their advantage, but they weren’t quite able to make the killer pass or shot to add to their advantage; their ruthless play in the opening quarter hour meant they didn’t have to.

Black Leopards 0

Kaizer Chiefs (3) 4 (Majoro 9’ 12’ 16’ 52’)

Teams:

Black Leopards: Maphaha; Dzaga, Khoza, Mabusela, Tshabalala, Bobe, Monama, Duiker (Banda 42’), Madimba (Sibeko 58’), Zulu, Ramagalela (Obaje 72’)

Kaizer Chiefs: Bartman; Tau, Isaacs, Zvasiya, Jambo, Nale (Lebese 67’), Baloyi (Masango 83’), Katsande, Tshabalala, Majoro (Ngcobo 55’), Parker