JOHANNESBURG – Kaizer Chiefs suffered a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions when they lost 1-0 in a Premiership match to Jomo Cosmos at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday night.
The hosts dominated proceedings throughout the 90 minutes, Jomo Sono’s struggling side scoring with a brilliant individual effort by Mxolisi Machupu five minutes from time, with what was virtually their only chance on the night.
The first half was a dour affair, with not too many clear-cut scoring chances. For their part, Chiefs completely dominated the possession stakes, but failed to find the impetus they needed from midfield, while their front-runners, with the exception of William Twala, were not as plugged in as they could have been.
Cosmos meanwhile seemed happy to sit back and try to hit on the counter, but they failed to trouble the home defence at all in the opening 45 minutes.
AmaKhosi did have some chances, starting in the sixth minute when Twala was unable to convert at the back post following a flick-on by Camaldine Abraw. Twala had another opportunity before Ivan Bukenya headed wide of goal as Chiefs continued to dominate in front of an unusually sparse crowd in Soweto.
The final 10 minutes of the opening stanza saw Chiefs getting closer to scoring, but Abraw’s goal-bound shot struck a defender, while Ezenkosi keeper Lesego Modiba did well to deny Moleko and Tsepo Masilela.
The second half saw no change in the balance of play as Steve Komphela’s side remained on top, continuing to try and find weaknesses in the Cosmos defence.
Erick Mathotho went wide with a back post header on 48 minutes, substitute Hendrick Ekstein forcing a smart save out of Modiba, who did very well to stop with his feet in the 63rd minute.
Still the home side continued to press for a goal, Bernard Parker missing with an overhead kick before Siphiwe Tshabalala failed to find the target with a free kick.
It was thus totally against the run of play that the defending league champions found themselves 1-0 down in the 85th minute when Machupu picked the ball up 30-yards out, sizzling a half-volley past Itumeleng Khune and into the top corner of the net.
There were chances for AmaKhosi to equalise, but Mathoho’s header looped onto the roof of the net.
Chiefs remain 13 points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who play Celtic on Wednesday, while Cosmos move out of the drop zone, above AmaTuks to 14th place.
Facebook Comments