Posted in Match Report, News, Team News on Sep 28, 2025.
Kaizer Chiefs (1) 1
(Lilepo 41’)
Kabuscorp SCP (0) 0
(Aggregate 1-1; Kaizer Chiefs win 5-4 on penalties)
CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round, 2nd leg
FNB stadium, Nasrec
Amakhosi progressed from the preliminary round of the 2025/26 CAF Confederation Cup by beating Angolan opponents, Kabuscorp SCP 5-4 on penalties after Amakhosi’s 1-0 victory in the second-leg at FNB stadium that left the aggregate scores tied at 1-1.
Glody Lilepo scored the game’s only goal with a superb finish in the 41st minutes and that’s the way it ended after 90-plus tense and absorbing minutes of football.
With so much at stake, the match got off to a cagey start with both teams prioritising solidity over adventure, wanting to avoid making an early mistake that would put them in jeopardy.
Kabuscorp were content to sit in and protect the 1-0 lead they achieved in the first leg as Chiefs needed to make the play in order to cancel the deficit. Amakhosi looked particularly dangerous down the flanks, with Dillon Solomons and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo combining well to release Mduduzi Shabalala down the right, likewise Bradley Cross and Pule Mmodi on the opposite wing.
It was Mmodi who had Amakhosi’s first chance of the half in the 17th minute when he went on a typical mazy run and played a one-two with Lilepo on the edge of the box, taking the ball back and forcing Anselmo Mweni into a sharp save at the expense of a corner.
Cross also came close in the 34th minute after Anselmo had parried an effort from Ashley Du Preez but the defender lifted the rebound too high and the ball went over the bar.
Lilepo will feel he ought to have done better in the 38th minute after being released into the box by a beautiful reverse pass by Ngcobo but shot just the wrong side of the upright into the side netting.
The dam was broken four minutes before the break when Solomons found himself in space centrally about 30 yards out. He unleashed a ferocious drive that Anselmo managed to push away at full stretch but only into the path of Lilepo, who smashed the ball into the net from a tight angle.
It could well have been 2-0 moments before the referee brought the half to a close as Shabalala was thwarted by a close range Anselmo save after Lilepo had got behind the Kabuscorp defence and fired the ball across goal.
Amakhosi enjoyed a slice of luck early in the second half as a shot from Sandro took a wicked deflection off Zitha Kwinika, completely wrong-footing Petersen but the ball tricked centimetres past the post.
Substitute Flavio Da Silva was denied a goal in the 63rd minute after stumbling through a couple of tackles and getting a shot away that Anselmo managed to block with his legs and moments later Shababala hooked the ball wide after the ‘keeper erroneously played the ball directly to him on the edge of the area.
Petersen was equal to a dipping volley from Mafuta in the 74th minute, spectacularly tipping the ball over the bar to deny the Kabuscorp forward.
As time ticked away and the tension mounted, play became increasingly scrappy, and neither team could muster a winning goal, resulting in penalties to decide the fate of the protagonists. Amakhosi scored all five of their spot-kicks, with McCarthy scoring the game-winning penalty.
Line-ups
Kaizer Chiefs: Petersen (1), Solomons (18) (Frosler 39), Kwinika © (4), Miguel (84), Mthethwa (5), Ngcobo (12) (Cele (21) 59’), Cross (27) (McCarthy (35) 83’), Shabalala (7) (Sirino (10) 69’), Mmodi (13), Lilepo (19), Du Preez (9), (Da Silva (32) 59’)
Subs not used: Ntwari (30), Nkanyisa (33), Matlou (22), Duba (36)
Coaches: Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze
Kabuscorp SCP: Anselmo (22), Zamorano (2), Ady Boyo (5), Jo Vidal © (15), Abidal (19), Lito (4), Sandro (32), Nuno (8) (Moises Domingos (25) 90+1’), Lisandro (14) (Paqueta (18) 84’), Beny Pape (24) (Julio (31) 31’), Mafuta (30)
Subs not used: Rachoni (1); Moises (9)
Coach: Beto Bianchi
