Late drama prior to kick off saw The Amakhosi having to change their starting line up after Muhsin Ertugral had already opted to play Itumeleng Khune in goal, at the last moments after the teams had done their warm up routines the young goalkeeper still feeling the effects of the cramps he suffered towards the end of the Telkom Cup final was withdrawn from the starting eleven.

His stand in, if he could be labeled as such, Emille Baron playing in his third game of the season, proved that he is not going to give up the fight for the number on jersey as he came up with some big stops .

The Amakhosi were made to sweat by the home team who were looking to spring a surprise on the newly crowned Telkom Knock Out Champions. It was Amazulu who had the easier of the chances and Emille Baron made a double save in the first half, and Dumisani Ngwenya with the goal at his mercy in the second fell over the ball.

Kaizer Motaung Junior gave Chiefs the lead off a Siphiwe Tshabalala corner early in the second half. Shoes Moshoeu managed to make the most of a defensive mishap to level matters three minutes later.

Chiefs finished the game with ten men when Onismor Bhasera was sent off for allegedly bringing Siyabonga Mkhwanazi down, while the Amazulu man was adjudged to be on his way to goal.

Double Baron Magic

While all the talk over the past couple of weeks has been about the rise of Itumeleng Khune, Emille Baron showed that he was not going to stand around and when given a run on Wednesday evening demonstrated that he could do the business when called on.

Shoes Moshoeu played a raking ball from the right across the field to Dumisani Ngwenya in the 24th minute, who was inside the Chiefs eighteen yard area. From around 12 yards out he hit the ball towards goal as Baron narrowed the angle and blocked the ball with his chest. The rebound fell to the feet of Nhlanhla Zwane and before he could move, Baron was back on his feet and made a brave save diving at Zwane’s feet to stop the ball.

Not past these Shoes

Gerald Sibeko tried picking out Thuso Phala with a pass along the ground out to the right in the 35th minute; Effort Sithole though intercepted the ball and played it behind him to Issah who in turn sent Shoes Moshoeu towards goal with a pass that left the Chiefs' defense looking a pedestrian. Emille Baron took a risk and came charging out of his goal and got to the ball before Shoes could, and sliding in he managed to knock it away to safety.

Dead ball breathes life

While the first half was characterized by Chiefs patiently building up from the back, and Amazulu clearing their lines before their keeper could be tested, Chiefs with their first real effort on goal took the lead. Siphiwe Tshabalala managed to deliver and inch-perfect cross from a 53rd minute corner. The ball went to the back post where Kaizer Motaung back tracked and headed the ball into a virtually empty net with Ncala, the Amazulu keeper, nowhere to be found. It was just the tonic the game needed to fuel both teams, as Chiefs went in search of a second and Amazulu came out looking for an equalizer.

Shining Shoes

As a Chiefs player, Shoes Moshoeu once scored a hat trick in a league game for The Amakhosi against Amazulu. On Wednesday he returned the favor for his new club and through some good individual work got the home team on the score board. Three minutes after Kaizer Junior had given Chiefs the lead, Effort Sithole on the left found Shoes inside the Chiefs 18-yard area. Baron came out for the ball but collided with Spencer and Shoes was able to move along the goal line before knocking the ball into the empty net to bring parity in the match.

Miss of the month

With nineteen minutes of the game remaining Shoes Moshoeu came to the fore again and hit the ball over the top of the Chiefs defense and found Dumisani Ngwenya in plenty of space. The Amazulu number 16 got the ball wide of Baron who had come out to thwart the attack and with the goal mouth inviting him to hit the net, Ngwenya horribly miss kicked the ball and fell over, in essence he lost the three points for his team and let Chiefs off the hook.

Seeing red

Amazulu replaced Ngwenya with Siyabonga Mkhwanazi, who was party to one of its major talking points in the 82nd minute of the game. The Amazulu player was set on goal and went tumbling over a few seconds after it seemed as though he would be on with a chance of having a crack at goal.

The referee immediately reached for his pocket and sent Amakhosi defender Onismor Bhasera off. The decision looked to be the wrong one as television replays showed that the Chiefs defender was first pushed by Mkhwanazi as he fell over he pulled down the Amazulu forward. Chiefs though with ten men managed to hold out and picked up a point from this fast paced and entertaining encounter, which gave the almost 20 000 strong crowd full value for their money.

Match Facts:

Amazulu (3-5-2): 33. Lawrence Ncala, 25. Belux Kasongo, 27. Martin Carelse, 3. Biyela Bafo, 26. Jan Sillo, 21. Effort Sithole, 20. Nhlanhla Zwane, 10. John Moshoeu, 4. Sanele Majola, 6. Awal Mohammed Issah, 16. Dumisani Ngwenya




Substitutions:

Substitutes not used: 36. Mbongeni Mzimela, 8. Dennis Lota, 7. Litha Ngxabi, 5. Bulelani Matroos

Cautions: Yellow Cards, 25. Belux Kasonga (knocked over Thuso Phala) 43 min, 3. Bafo Biyela (time wasting) 50 min, 27. Martin Carelse (kicking over Arthur Zwane) 71 min

Head Coach: Clive Barker


Coach: Joel Faya


Goalkeeper Coach: Graham Johnson

Kaizer Chiefs (4-4-2): 30. Emille Baron, 2. Jimmy Tau, 3. Onismor Bhasera, 4. Cyril Nzama, 14. Siphiwe Tshabalala, 24. David Mathebula, 26. Thuso Phala, 27. Gerald Sibeko, 28. Derrick Spencer, 5. Mabhudi Khenyeza, 7. Kaizer Motaung Junior




Cautions: Yellow Cards, 28. Derrick Spencer (pulling down Dumisani Ngwenya),

14. Siphiwe Tshabalala (late tackle on Sanele Majola) 44 min

Ejections: Red Cards, 3. Onismor Bhasera (pulling back Mkhwanazi) 82 min

Substitutions:

Substitutes not used: 30. Itumeleng Khune, 29. Mokete Tsotetsi, 6. Fabian McCarthy,

33. Ditheko Mototo



Coach: Muhsin Ertugral


Assistant Coach: Fani Madida


Goalkeeper Coach: Rainer Dinkelacker

Match Officials:


Referee: Buyile Gqubile


Assistant 1: Fikile Mtintsilana


Assistant 2: Tembikile Bikitsha


4TH Official: Zweli Nkosi


Match Commissioner: Mark Linden