Flavio Da Silva came off the bench to hand Kaizer Chiefs a hard-fought 1-0 win over Durban City in a Betway Premiership clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
The match kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes, shifting from the scheduled 19:30 start to 20:00, due to the large number of fans who had not yet entered the stadium.
The first significant opportunity fell to Glody Lilepo, who received a through pass from Mduduzi Shabalala but could only fire the striker’s attempt wide across the face of goal.
Thereafter, the game entered a long lull, with both sides exchanging aggressive midfield battles but failing to create any clear goal-scoring opportunities.
Brandon Petersen had a quiet first half in the Chiefs goal, as the home side rarely reached his box; while City shot-stopper Darren Keet touched the ball far more often.
As the second half began, the game remained locked in a stalemate, with both teams, failing to create the shift needed to break the deadlock.
The 66th minute delivered a scare to Durban City, as Chiefs nearly scored the opener when Shabalala’s shot,which appeared to have beaten Keet, was cleared by the head of Mfanafuthi Mkhize.
With the game looking as if it was headed for a share of the spoils, Flavio Da Silva came off the bench to head home an 87th minute header for the maximum points.
Amakhosi moved third in the league standings with 19 points accumulated from 11 matches while City are fifth with 15 points after 11 matches.
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