Kaizer Chiefs walked away from Lubumbashi with a valuable 0–0 draw against AS Simba in Saturday’s CAF Confederation Cup preliminary second-round first leg.
The result has given Amakhosi a slight edge heading into the return leg in South Africa.
AS SIMBA VS KAIZER CHIEFS IN LUBUMBASHI
In these competitions, the golden rule when playing away is to grab an away goal or two. Amakhosi couldn’t manage that, yet keeping things tight and avoiding defeat is still a solid result in the tricky conditions of Lubumbashi.
Amakhosi booked their spot in this year’s competition after lifting the Nedbank Cup, edging fierce rivals Orlando Pirates 2–1 in a fiery Moses Mabhida final back in June.
Their continental journey began with a tense win over Angola’s Kabuscorp in the opening round, progressing on penalties after a 1–1 aggregate draw.
Simba, on the other hand, qualified by winning the Coupe du Congo, beating FC MK Etanchéité 1–0, before sweeping past Djabal of Comoros 3–0 on aggregate.
HOW AMAKHOSI LINED UP
Following Co-coaches Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze made two changes: Fiacre Ntwari gave Brandon Petersen the gloves, while Siphesihle Ndlovu came in for Mduduzi Shabalala.
Full list: Brandon Petersen, Bradley Cross, Inacio Miguel, Zitha Kwinika, Dillan Solomons, Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Siphesihle Ndlovu, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo, Pule Mmodi, Glody Lilepo, Khanyisa Mayo.
The return leg takes place next Saturday, 25 October, at Dobsonville Stadium, where Amakhosi will look to finish what they started.
Victory in Soweto will book Kaizer Chiefs a place in the group stages, effectively the last 16, featuring four groups of four teams each. The top two from every group move on to the quarterfinals, the business end of the competition.
First up, a Betway Premiership clash against Siwelele FC at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday at 19:30.