Cape Town City were beaming with pride after reaching the MTN8 final and coach Benni McCarthy was hoping for another impressive showing in front of a massive at Cape Town Stadium. The former player looked to utilise City’s pace on the wing as he roped in Bradley Ralani to play alongside the likes of Teko Modise and Mpho Matsi as Thabo Nodada did not make the matchday squad.
Meanwhile, with Chiefs desperate to register a victory, coach Giovanni Solinas immediately looked to his new recruit Lebogang Manyama, who returned to his old stomping ground to make his Amakhosi debut.
The impact of Manyama was being felt early on as he almost found the back of the net with three minutes on the clock, but his tame effort from the edge of the area was comfortably saved by City keeper Peter Leuuwenburgh.
Chiefs were certainly looking the better of the two sides going forward, while City, on the other hand, were content on sitting back and playing on the counter-attack during the opening stanza. That pressure was finally rewarded with 10 minutes played as Ngezana found the back of the net following poor defending at the back by City.
However, goals from set pieces were proving to be the order of the first half as Rusike struck against his former side with 26 minutes on the clock. A delightful in-swinging corner saw the Zimbabwean head home at the near post, silencing the Chiefs fans in attendance.
Before half-time, Chiefs suffered a massive blow as Leonardo Castro made way for Bernard Parker due to injury. Ayanda Patosi’s set-pieces continued to cause havoc for the Chiefs defence and just before the break, Ralani watched on as his shot almost snuck in at the near post as both sides went into the interval deadlocked.
The second half though, saw Chiefs once again look to get onto the front foot as they looked to beat City for the third successive game. Parker had a good chance early on as he was played into space, but his shot lacked the necessary power to trouble the keeper.
But while Parker may not have found the back of the net Billiat would, as he latched onto a pinpoint cross and showed great improvisation to guide his header into the far corner.
City has struggled to find a way back into the game and McCarthy opted to withdraw Modise for Roland Putsche while Gift Links was also introduced. Almost immediately after the changes, City was caught on the break but Billiat’s had his radar turned off as he shot went wide off target.
With the game into its final 30 minutes, the clash was a lot more open and Rusike’s initial effort was well saved by Khune. Nonetheless, City’s woes would be worsened as they were forced to play the remainder of the clash with 10-men after Taariq Fielies was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
To City’s credit they did not give up and Links showed great composure to get a shot away only for Khune to smother with less than 20 minutes left. At the other end, Parker had a chance to kill off the game with time running out, but he failed to deliver.
While Parker could not find the goal, Billiat had no such problem as he tucked home a loose ball into the back of the net.
Although, the goal came as a sucker punch it was not the end of the goal fest as Philani Zulu inflicted further damage on City at the death as he calmly put the ball beyond the City keeper completing the rout.
Source: Goal.Com
