Kaizer Chiefs secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over Richards Bay after playing more than an hour with ten men at a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday evening.
Thirty thousand tickets made available for the home game away from home for Amakhosi were sold out a few hours prior to kickoff and there was a major wave of optimism in the air ahead of kickoff.
Chiefs looked the more lively of the two sides in the opening stages with Kgaogelo Sekgota wreaking havoc with his pace and agility and saw a penalty call waved away after a tussle with Abel Mabaso just inside the area.
They should have taken the lead through Zitha Kwinika moments later but he blasted his effort over the post when he was found unmarked in the area from a corner and they were almost made the rue the chance when a moment of madness saw influential midfielder Yusuf Maart sent of for a professional foul on the half-hour mark.
The Natal Richboyz dominated possession after the sending off and almost found the opener with several moments of indecision from Chiefs keeper Brandon Petersen and his defence who were clearly nervy since the mishap which saw Maart make the decision to haul a player down as he was closing in on a 1v1 situation with the South Africa international shot-stopper.
However, Chiefs managed to regroup at the break and come into the second half with renewed purpose as the side dominated possession and calved out several chances, which was eventually rewarded with a penalty when Sekgota was brought just after the hour mark.
Dillan Solomons stepped up to slot home his first for the club, much to the delight of Arthur Zwane and his technical team – who could breathe a collective sigh of relief as they picked up their second win from their fourth game and moved up to eighth place.
Line-ups
[Image: Kaizer Chiefs]
