Kaizer Chiefs beat Maritzburg to progress to last 16 of Nedbank Cup

Kaizer Chiefs made heavy weather of their passage to the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup after being forced to go to extra time before their new DR Congo striker Christian Saile and Ashley du Preez gave them a 2-0 victory over Maritzburg United at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Friday night.

Saile slotted home his first goal in Chiefs' colours in the second minute of the extra time after Arthur Zwane's charges were frustrated by a Maritzburg side which had to play the whole second half and the added 30 minutes with 10 men.

Du Preez added a second goal for Chiefs in the 122nd minute of a match that was marked by poor finishing and lacked a clear pattern of play by Amakhosi in the initial 90 minutes.

Maritzburg had their skipper Travis Graham sent off for two dangerous fouls on Chiefs attacker Mduduzi Shabalala late in the first half. 

While Chiefs had more chances to put the match beyond Maritzburg after they scored, it was Maritzburg who nearly took the match to penalties with striker Amadou Soukouna hitting the upright minutes before Du Preez extended Chiefs' lead.

Shabalala, the player who looked to give Chiefs more breaks going forward, had to be withdrawn by  Zwane at halftime as he struggled to recover from strong tackles from Graham.   

There was a lot of huffing and puffing on the wrong parts of the pitch by Chiefs in the early stages of this disappointing match before Saile provided a through ball to Shabalala to test Maritzburg keeper King Ndlovu for the first time in the 15th minute.

Ali Meza forced a save from Chiefs keeper Brandon Petersen before Ashley du Preez came close to giving Chiefs a lead towards the end of the first half.

Du Preez kept Ndlovu busy early in the second half before Chiefs found it more and more difficult to find an opener against a home team that looked content to defend and take this match to penalties.

Instead of finding ways to break down Maritzburg’s defensive wall which was overloaded after Graham’s red card, Chiefs were atrocious in their attempt to find goals, their awful shooting letting them down even when they had better openings.

Maritzburg’ substitute Rowan Human came close to finding an opener for the home team after cutting open the Chiefs defence to only see his fierce shot brilliantly kept away by Peterson.  

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