Chippa Hands Chiefs Another Defeat
Kaizer Chiefs’ tough week of mourning ended on a bitter note as they were defeated by Chippa United 2-0 at Buffalo City Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
On Thursday, Chiefs saw one of their own – Luke Fleurs tragically pass away through the shooting in Johannesburg when he was at the filling station.
They were given the option to postpone the match following the sad loss, but after consultation with the players, decided that the show must go on to honor their fallen team-mate, who had not made the club’s debut despite being signed sometime last year.
Chiefs were appearing at Buffalo City Stadium for the first time since 2019 when they beat EC Bees in the Nedbank Cup first round, which saw the debut of Happy Mashiane.
Whenever Chiefs play in small cities around the country the crowd turns, it was full, which was over 16000 fans came to watch the game.
As Chiefs were seeking their first league win in 2024, conditions underfoot were soft following a rain in two days in East London.
But they appeared on the front foot, probing and seeing shots by Edmilson Dove and Ranga Chivaviro go wide off-target.
But Amakhosi failed to clear a throw in and Bienvenu Eva Nga outjumped Njabulo Ngcobo to head in past Bruce Bvuma in the 21st minute.
A few moments later, Edson Castillo lost the ball cheaply and was saved by Bvuma, who denied Sinoxolo Kwayiba from close range by spreading his body big.
Again Chiefs’ defense was pierced through, and Nga was through on goal with Bvuma to beat, but widely ballooned his shot.
But Chilli Boyz didn’t wait for long to double the scoreline – Kwayiba side-footed in the second in the 32nd minute after Nga played a give-and-go on the edge of the box.
Chiefs’ faces were left glum in the stands as they were left stunned to be two goals down at such an early stage of the game.
As Chippa was 2-0 up in the first half, they continued to flood forward in the second half, and it was clear they were never satisfied with those goals.
Just after the hour mark, Chiefs got a break, and Christian Saile was clean through on goal, but his shot was saved by Darren Johnson.
Siyethemba Sithebe was also denied from close range later on by Johnson, but it wasn’t to be as Amakhosi registered the ninth league defeat this season.
