Black Leopards vs Kaizer Chiefs match report: Amakhosi crash to defeat!

Kaizer Chiefs suffered a 2-1 loss to bottom-placed Black Leopards in league match which was played at Thohoyandou Stadium on Wednesday.

Gavin Hunt was forced to make changes to his usual starting line-up with Willard Katsande and Njabulo Blom suspended, and Lebogang Manyama out injured.

READ | AS IT HAPPENED | BLACK LEOPARDS VS KAIZER CHIEFS

Darrel Matsheke returned to the starting line-up alongside Eric Mathoho while Lazarous Kambole started upfront with Leonardo Castro.

Amakhosi took the lead through Castro from a rebound that saw Jonas Mendes deny Siyabonga Ngenzana from a point-blank range.

Ngezana had received a sublime pass from Kambole inside the Leopards box but he failed to convert a meter away from the goal-line, and Castro made no mistake from inside box.

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Leopards were never deterred by conceding early as they pushed for an equalizer before the half-time break.

And they were rewarded on the stroke of half-time as Tiklas Thutlwa made it 1-1 after connecting with a cross behind the Chiefs defence.

Both sides went into the half-time break locked at 1-1, and more work was needed from both benches in the second half.

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Leopards came back guns blazing from the dressing rooms as they dominated the midfield battle, and managed to expose the Amakhosi defence.

And it wasn’t surprising to see them take the lead in the 66th minute through Thutlwa who made no mistake with a towering header from close range.

Chiefs pushed for that equalizer as they threw numbers forward in the last 23 minutes but it wasn’t to be as they were denied.

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The closest they came to scoring was when Nkosingiphile Ngcobo’s deflected off Edwin Gyimah before hitting the upright.

Ultimately, Leopards walked away with all the points on offer after coming from goal down to beat Chiefs.

The result saw Leopards move to within three points of 15th-placed Chippa United while Chiefs remained in position 11 with two games to go.

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STARTING LINE-UPS:

Black Leopards XI: Mendes, Sampson, Mashoene, Masia, Gyimah, Maluleke, Mthethwa, Thutlwa, Karuru, Mathenjwa, Khutlang.

Subs: Muleka, Makobela, Khumalo, Mokoena, Abubakar, Masalesa, Ndlovu, Douhadji, Anas.

Kaizer Chiefs XI: Bvuma, Zulu, Cardoso, Mathoho, Ngezana, Matsheke, Ngcobo, Parker, Kambole, Mashiane, Castro.

Subs: Akpeyi, Mphahlele, Agay, Baccus, Frosler, Sasman, Ntiya-Ntiya, Radebe.