Glody Lilepo’s stunning strike ensured that Kaizer Chiefs defeated Marumo Gallants 1-0 at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Wednesday to move above Orlando Pirates to second position on the Betway Premiership log.
Gallants dropped to 13th place with 15 points from 16 outings. The Chiefs co-coaches had made several changes to the side that defeated ZESCO United in the CAF Confederation Cup last weekend.
There weren’t many goal scoring chances created by both sides in the first half. Asanele Velebayi had two half chances in the stanza – the first, an early one in the opening five minutes from a solo run but he shot over the bar. The youngster had another chance late in the half where he side-netted.
Bheki Mabuza was a bit of a thorn for the visitors finding Christopher Sithole in the 10th minute, however the latter’s effort was an easy save for Brandon Petersen. Just before the half hour mark Mabuza found Katlego Otladisa who dished out another easy save for the Chiefs captain with the game going into half-time goalless.
There were no immediate changes from both sides at the start of the second half. It took eight minutes for Lebo Maboe to test Washington Arubi from outside the box but the keeper made a save.
And six minutes after the hour Lilepo took a shot from outside the box and beat Arubi to break the deadlock with what become the only goal of the game.
The win saw Chiefs move to 30 points on log into second place, one point ahead of rivals Pirates who have two games in hand, and just two behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.