Kaizer Chiefs avoided losing their fourth consecutive league fixture for the first time by beating Durban City 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg.
Glody Lilepo scored the game’s only goal, boosting Chiefs’ chances of finishing in the top three.
Chiefs made wholesale changes to the line-up that was beaten 1-0 by Richards Bay a fortnight ago.
Inacio Miguel, Zitha Kwinika, Siphesihle Ndlovu, Mduduzi Shabalala, Lilepo, Ashley du Preez and Wandile Dube got a nod ahead of Aden McCarthy, Nkanyiso Shinga, Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Gaston Sirino, Ethan Chislett, Asanele Velebayi and Flavio Silva.
While McCarthy and Mthethwa were suspended, the other five changes Amakhosi made reflected on their rather strange yet continual wont, under the current technical team, of randomly chopping and changing the starting XI.
Chislett, who had done relatively well in the past few games, was a surprise exclusion from the match-day squad, while a player like Ndlovu came from nowhere, having missed the past few outings, and earned a slot in the starting line-up.
Thabo Cele was also nowhere to be seen in the match-day squad, despite having decent cameos in the last few games.
Conversely, Durban City made just two changes to the starting line-up that eliminated provincial rivals Golden Arrows by beating them on penalties in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals last Sunday.
Joslin Kamatuka and Emmanuel Jalai were drafted into the starting line-up, replacing Athini Jodwana and Samkelo Maseko, who had started against Arrows.
Defensive errors and lack of cutting-edge up front defined Chiefs’ first half, while the visitors were content with sitting back and absorbing pressure.
Miguel was the guilty party as far as defensive errors were concerned, ending up getting an unnecessary yellow card in the 31st minute.
Chiefs brought in Velebayi for Du Preez at the start of the second half and introduced Mfundo Vilakazi for Duba three minutes after the hour mark.
The two changes injected new life into their lukewarm play. Velebayi used his pace down the left flank, tormenting Jalai. On the other flank, Vilakazi showed some sense of urgency, a quality that was lacking before his introduction.
Vilakazi’s determination yielded fruit in the 69th minute when he brilliantly laid the ball in the path of Lilepo, who unleashed a thunderbolt with the outside of his boot to beat Darren Keet in the City goal.
Lilepo selfishly wasted several chances a few minutes later, opting for a shot instead of passing to Velebayi, who was unmarked in the box.
Durban City threw everything at Chiefs in the last minutes, but it wasn’t meant to be for the team to at least get a draw.
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