Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs’ unbelievable CAF Champions League successful run continues after they emphatically thrashed Simba SC 4-0 in their first-leg, quarterfinal tie up at FNB Stadium last night.
With the comfortable cushion, coupled with the clinical finish that Amakhosi displayed during this encounter, they will have only themselves to blame if they don’t advance to the semis, where there is a possibility of meeting compatriots Mamelodi Sundowns.
Downs were in action in a late kick-off , quarterfinals opener against their former coach Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly away in Cairo last night.
Back at home, two goals in each half were just what the despondent Chiefs fans ordered after descending on Chiefs’ Naturena headquarters, protesting over how the club is run by the Motaung family.
But unlike in the domestic Premiership, the Naturena side is gradually silencing critics with their top-drawer Champions League performance.
Defender Erick Mathoho opened the home side’s account as early as the sixth minute, while striker Samir Nurkovic nodded home with his classic header in the 34th-minute and then completed his brace with a superb strike in the 57th minute.
Thereafter, forward Leonardo Castro completed the drubbing with his 63rd-minute strike.
Earlier Nurkovic was involved in a scuffle with Simba players following some hard tackling, but referee Alioum Alioum of Cameroon intervened to calm the flaring tempers.
While Chiefs keeper Bruce Bvuma was having one of his day-offs between the Amakhosi sticks, Simba’s goalminder Aishi Manula was kept busy by Daniel Cardoso and Nurkovic.
The victory and the possibility of advancing to the semis is a first for Chiefs as they have never reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League. Chiefs’ run in the elite CAF inter-club competition has left many stupefied as to why they cannot translate the continental performance to the domestic league, where they lie 10th on the log after only six wins, 12 draws and nine losses.
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