Amakhosi book spot in KO final

It was critical for Kaizer Chiefs to show up as their nemesis Orlando Pirates had progressed to the semis on the very same Moses Mabhida pitch the previous night.

And turn up Amakhosi did‚ by beating SuperSport United 1-0 at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday‚ but disjointed their performance may have been it was sufficient to progress to the semifinal stage of the Telkom Knockout.

Chiefs were the last team to clinch their spot to go in the hat alongside Baroka‚ Bidvest Wits and Pirates for the semifinal draw.

With Chiefs attacking with Khama Billiat and Leonardo Castro with Dumsani Zuma in tandem‚ the only goal of the game came from the unlikely source.

Rightback Ramahlwe Mphahlele rifled a rasping shot past Ronwen Williams with 38 minutes on the clock.

A heartbeat earlier Chiefs had squandered a chance to shoot to the lead.

Referee Daniel Bennett awarded Chiefs a penalty‚ adjudging Richard Boateng to have upended the selfsame Mphahlele in the box.

Up stepped Willard Katsande who blasted his spotkick against the crossbar and the ball ricocheted back into play.

United failed to clear their lines and in the resultant follow-up play Mphahlele broke the deadlock with a well taken strike.

Chiefs were far from fluid with question marks around their ability to keep their opponents at bay still very much alive.

They looked troubled when SuperSport surged forward and linked in lively fashion with intricate passes in forward forays that lacked a finisher – of the ilk of Bradley Grobler – in the final third.

Amakhosi must have heaved a huge sigh of relief that their chief tormentor, Grobler‚ who was a thorn in Chiefs’ flesh with three goals over two legs to eliminate them in the MTN8 semifinals‚ was ruled out by injury.

In fact James Keene was a poor version of Les Grobler’s son on the day.

A tough tackle by Katsande on former teammate Reneilwe Letsholonyane set the tone when the two midfielders had a coming together.

Another followed when Itumeleng Khune collided with Aubrey Modiba.

Bennett awarded a free kick but the Chiefs captain and goalkeeper escaped with a yellow card when he should have been given a red.

● Semifinal draw November 24 and 25: Baroka v Wits; Chiefs v Pirates. –