Kaizer Chiefs were defeated by Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko in the Toyota Cup at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Kotoko won the thrilling encounter 3-2 via penalty kicks after it ended in a stalemate after the regulation 90 minutes.
The west Africans lifted the beautiful, new trophy that was unveiled this past week in Durban. The match was part of Chiefs’ off-season preparations and for coach Nasreddine Nabi to finetune his charges and integrate new players into the team. The result was not of significance but having played African giants like Kotoko, Amakhosi will go into their CAF Confederation Cup campaign empowered.
New talent given a run
Besides regulars Brandon Petersen, skipper Inacio Miguel, Thabo Cele, Glody Lilepo, Mfundo Vilakazi, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Sibongiseni Mthethwa coach Nabi gave newcomers Flavio da Silva, Nkanyiso Shinga, Aiden McCarthy and Thabiso Monyane a chance to start and make an impression.
Chiefs also grabbed the opportunity to showcase their new 2025/26 playing kit. They used the traditional gold and black in the first half and changed to the grey and gold design in the second stanza. The addition of Mduduzi Shabalala gave Chiefs more options going forward and they created anxious moments for their opponents. Shabalala’s well-taken shot crashed against the upright with the Kotoko goalkeeper in no man’s land.
Chiefs persistence paid off within six minutes when Pule Mmodi was fouled inside the 18-area and was awarded a penalty kick. Inacio stepped up and fired his kick wide, much to the relief of the visitors and to the anguish of the partisan home supporters. Kotoko too, had their share of scoring opportunities but it seems they had left their scoring boots back home in Kumasi.
Towards the end, both teams, in search of a winner, went at each other’s throats like warring siblings but a goal was never coming, even if the match went on until midnight.
During the spot kicks, Chiefs missed four penalties and Kotoko missed three but scored just as many to lift the trophy.
