The sell-off has begun as the Chiefs wear down a stubborn ten-man Maritzburg



Christian Sayle scored his first goal for the Kaiser Chiefs when they finally thrashed ten-man Maritzburg United in extra time on Friday night to reach the round of 16 of the Nedbank Cup 2-0.

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In front of the crowded crowd at Harry Gwala Stadium, it was all Kaiser Chiefs in the first 20 minutes, but they couldn’t count it.

They really had half chances, Mduduzi Shabalala got two chances, but King Ndlovu converted them in the gates of Maritzburg.

With their relentless pressure, the Chiefs created problems for Maritzburg, and Travis Graham was sent to an early shower just under 10 minutes before halftime.

This came after he fouled Shabalal and received a second yellow card, leaving his team short of a man. Coach Fadlu Davids quickly made two changes to try and handle the situation.

He cast Jose Ali Meza and Tebogo Tlolane and brought in Lungelo Bhenga and Keegan Ritchie.

Maritzburg was able to hold onto a draw at halftime. But they endured some nerve-wracking moments when Ndlovu made two more good saves to keep them in the game.

Brilliant save

Maritzburg fought back and didn’t let the Chiefs relax. And that they almost scored first, but Brandon Pietersen made a great save to keep Rowan Human, who came out in the second half in place of Karim Kimwuidi.

The Chiefs tried to steal it near the end but could never find the right passes to get through the Maritzburg defense and the game went into overtime.

Amahoshi, however, were ahead by two minutes of the extra half hour. Substitute Happy Masciane crossed from the left, and Zita Kwinika headed the ball in the back post, but Ndlovu could only knock him over the crossbar.

Saile was there to put the finishing touches on, celebrating his first goal in his first start since arriving in the January transfer window.

Maritzburg was inches away from equalizing in the second half of extra time when Amadou Sukuna hit the base of the post.

And in the 113th minute, the Chiefs closed the ball when Ashley Du Pree shot Mashiane through the back post.