Kaizer Chiefs fought hard to advance to the next round of the Nedbank Cup following their 1-0 victory over Tornado at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Sunday, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.
The Glamour Boys hold the record for the most titles in this competition with 13 and made it as far as the semi-finals last season went they were eliminated by eventual winners Free State Stars.
Meanwhile, the ABC Motsepe League side are making their third appearance in the competition and reached the last 32 in 2015 when they suffered a 4-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates.
Amakhosi had the first real chance at goal in the opening minutes of the game when Siphelele Ntshangase fired his effort over the target following an error bu Khanya Mini
Tornado nearly broke the deadlock in the 21st minute when Kifuwe Siyoko rose highest to steer his header towards goal, Chiefs keeper Virgil Vries made a fine reflex save to deny his opportunity.
Leonardo Castro should have handed Chiefs the lead on the half hour mark, but the forward could only find the crossbar from a resulting corner.
The visitors missed a good chance to go ahead when Ntshangase squandered his chance from close range after finding space in the area.
However, the game went into the half time interval with the scoreline locked at 0-0.
The game was very open in the opening minutes of the second half, with Chiefs pushing bodies forward while Tornado looked to hit them on the counter.
Bernard Parker came close to getting his name on the scoresheet after 57 minutes of play, but the veteran striker turned his effort wide of the target after he was picked out by Mashiane.
Chiefs began to dominate the game after 65 minutes and once again missed the chance to go ahead when Parker sent a cross into the path of Paez, who failed to make any contact on the ball.
The visitors had a string of chance at goal through Parker, but they struggled to penetrate the Tornado defence with 17 minutes left to play
However, Amakhosi were held over 90 minutes bu the ABC Motsepe League outfit as they forced the game into extra time.
Chiefs pressed forward in the opening stages of the first half of extra time and nearly found the net when Castro cut the ball back to Zuma, but Mini did well to rush off his line to prevent the forward from scoring.
However, Amakhosi did manage to score a minute later when Abongile Twani turned in Castro’s cross into his own net.
Paez had a chance to put the game to bed in the 108th minute when he latched on to cross from Castro, but the substitute failed to turn his header on target at the near post.
Tornado thought they should have been awarded a penalty in the 111st minute for Moleko’s foul on Siyoko, but their appeal was not given as he was flagged offside, although replay suggested it was an incorrect offside call.
Hendrick Ekstein missed a glorious opportunity to double Chiefs’ lead three minutes later when he cut the ball back before firing an effort at goal, but the midfielder’s poor effort lacked any real power.
The home side pressed forward in the closing stage of extra time in search of a goal to push the tie into a penalty shootout, but Chiefs held on to their lead until the final whistle to advance to the last 16.