chiefs Ashley du Preez (second from left) celebrates with his Kaizer Chiefs teammates after scoring the winning goal at FNB Stadium.
Image: BackpagePix
LILEPO! LILEPO! LILEPO!
The Kaizer Chiefs fans chanted and clapped their hands to the beat of a drum in appreciation of the club’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) player who was on fire as Amakhosi beat Magesi FC 1-0 at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Congolese international had a superb outing which he capped by providing the assist for Ashley Du Preez to score with literally his initial touch of the ball after he’d come on for Ranga Chivaviro deep in the second half.
Signed during the January transfer window, Glody Lilepo is showing just why coach Nasreddine Nabi had been after his services even during his time as coach of Tanzania’s Young Africans.
He is not only strong on the ball, but he is a workaholic who covers just about every blade of grass on the pitch and is very forceful on the attack.
Last night he displayed all those qualities and more as he harassed the Magesi defence on the right wing and delivered numerous telling passess into the box that should have been used better.
He often even appeared a step ahead of his teammates who sometimes seemed to be caught off guard by the apsses he made for them.
Chivaviro in particular almost always failed to make good use of the opportunities created for him and he actually ballooned one such from right inside the box with Elvis Chipezeze a beaten man.
That coach Nabi ejected him off the field almost immediately thereafter to bring on Du Preez, was not surprising.
And the move proved to be a stroke of genius as the Capetonian scored what turned out to be the match’s only goal as Chiefs finally came right on a night when they’d appeared they were never going to score despite their dominance.
The delight of the crowd knew no bounds as they set off firecrackers that sent orange smoke billowing out on the stands before they embarked on song and applause for the Congolese who could well be just what Amakhosi needed to bring an end to their trophy drought.
It is, of course, not going to happen in the league where they remain in eighth-place even after this victory which could have been by a wider margin had Du Preez taken advantage of a chance he had late on.
Also, Pule Mmodi did everything right in time added on for stoppages only to see his shot ricochet off the inside of the upright root back into play.
What would have pleased their faithful though is the fact that Chiefs played with some cohesion as they knocked the ball about purposely and attacked with intent.
The missing ingredient was that decision-making in the final third where many a pass went astray and the shots at goal either wide or over.
Fix that and, with Lilepo doing the providing, Nabi’s assertion that Chiefs will finish in a much higher position than they currently are on could well become a reality.
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