Komphela vindicated by Lebese strike

Sibongiseni Gumbi

Steve Komphela says he predicted substitute George Lebese’s goalscoring contribution that gave Kaizer Chiefs a vital 1-0 win over Chippa United in the Absa Premiership on Saturday.

The result lifted Chiefs to second in the table, though Bidvest Wits, Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United all have games in hand on them.

Some may have seen Komphela’s substitution of Edmore Chirabandare, whose touches were opening spaces for the attackers to take shots, as a risk as he brought on Lebese (below), who has been accused of not giving his all by some Chiefs legends lately.

But with five minutes to go, Lebese repaid his coach’s faith by scoring the winner, a moment which prompted a usually composed Komphela to run out of his demarcated area to give him a pat on the back.

“We made a few changes, including bringing on George Lebese and it worked … with Edmore having worked hard in the first half, we thought Lebese, with his finesse, would give us something different. I remember telling the bench that George will score for us tonight and that’s exactly what happened.”

With six matches to go for Chiefs, Komphela knows every point gained has massive value.

“Any point counts at this stage. We played a good side that can hurt you if you aren’t careful. They don’t threaten often, but they have this ability to score at any point of the game if you aren’t careful.

“We had to grind out a result and I’m happy with the three points,” he said.

Amakhosi’s next league fixture is a six-pointer against Cape Town City next Tuesday.

The Glamour Boys will first be looking to keep their run of wins going in the Nedbank Cup – they host SuperSport United at FNB Stadium in the quarterfinal on Saturday.