Chiefs cruise past Stellenbosch FC to reach Nedbank Cup last 16

Kaizer Chiefs overcame a slow start to score three unanswered goals in the second half and advance to the second half of the Nedbank Cup by beating Stellenbosch FC 3-0 at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday, including a first by the new Venezuelan signing Gustavo Paez.

Chiefs had been bundled out in the first round of the competition last season by Orlando Pirates and have not won the top knockout prize since 2013 but made an emphatic statement with their away victory.

“These games are not easy and they pressed us well. We had to rethink our strategy and finally we did it,” said a satisfied Steve Komphela after the game.

It was Stellenbosch who got away the first shot, a stinging left footer after eight minutes from Diego Brown that tested whether Nhlanhla Khuzwayo was alert in the Chiefs’ goal. Khuzwayo was one of six changes that coach Steve Komphela made after last weekend’s derby draw with Orlando Pirates.

Lucky Baloyi drifted in late to have Chiefs’ first decent effort on the quarter-hour mark as Gustavo Paez put in a chip pass.

Baloyi had a similar effort some 20 minutes later also skyed over the top in a first half of restricted opportunity.

The best fell to Stellenbosch near the break when they caught Chiefs on the counter attack after Willard Katsande has been stripped of the ball but the referee Thando Ndzandzeka made a bad error in not allowing advantage, stopping play instead to caution the Chiefs captain.

Stellenbosch were away on goal when the ref blew the whistle and were denied a clear chance at goal.

Straight after the break, Chiefs went ahead after good work from Paez who provided a clear cross from outside on the right and lofted the ball over the home defence for the diminutive Molongoane to head into an empty net.

Stellenbosch looked stung after giving away such an easy goal and sat back to allow to take midfield control after pressing them so effectively in the first half.

In the 58th minute, a floated Chiefs cross was poorly cleared by Junaid Sait, the Stellenbosch centre back, and sat up perfectly for Tshabalala to blast home with a perfect left footed shot from outside the area to double the score.

A tactical switch allowed Stellenbosch to get back into the game in the final 20 minutes and twice Khuzwayo was forced to make a vita saves

Paez finally got a goal with eight minutes to go, beating the offside trap and getting behind the defensive line on the end of a great pass from George Lebese to round the Stellenbosch goalkeeper Washington Arubi and tuck away the ball.

  - TMG Digital/TMG Sport