Playing 75 minutes of the match with ten men, after they had lost defender Johannes Motlhaping early in the match, Celtic went into the lead when Captain Thabo Nthethe scored off Mark Mayambela’s free kick in the 22nd minute. Gerald Sibeko leveled the scores when he scored a 36th minute equaliser for Chiefs.
Referee Faiek Daniels did not hesitate in sending off Celtic defender Motlhaping with a quarter of an hour gone; the lanky defender could not properly control a long ball from Letsholonyane. Kaizer Motaung Junior put him under pressure and stole the ball from him and sped away. Sensing a goal in the offing, Motlhaping brought down Motaung from behind just outside the Celtic penalty area. The referee sent him on his way and awarded Chiefs a free kick which was well executed by Jose Torrealba, who put it just over the Celtic cross bar.
Somehow despite having a numerical disadvantage Celtic managed to surge ahead in the 22nd minute. Chiefs midfielder Letsholonyane upended Cecil Oerson on the right edge of the Chiefs 18-yard area and from the resulting free kick Mark Mayambela powered the ball towards goal – Letsholonyane got in the way and headed the ball onto his own cross bar. Celtic captain Nthethe remained attentive and was quicker to the loose ball than Chiefs defender Dominic Isaacs and was able to stab it past Itumeleng Khune and over the line.
Knowing that they needed to make the most of being a man up, Chiefs put Celtic under immediate pressure and the visitors were saved by their right hand upright in the 25th minute; Jose Torrealba’s shot from right skidded along the ground past Patrick Tignyemb and slammed into the bottom of the post.
Ultimately being under relentless pressure from Chiefs broke Celtic and they conceded a goal which, under normal circumstances, they could have dealt with better. Gary Goldstone was the unfortunate party as his attempted clearance of Jimmy Tau’s cross from the right wing fell into the path of an unmarked Gerald Sibeko in the 36th minute. The diminutive midfielder timed the ball perfectly, hitting on the volley past a stranded Tignyemb to level scores.
Chiefs, given that they were a man up on Celtic, were on the attack as soon as the second half began and they had Letsholonyane miss from close range in the 53rd minute. Nine minutes after that David Mathebula rattled the Celtic crossbar with a powerfully driven shot from 25 yards from goal which swerved past Tignyemb and hit the wood work; the rebound came out to Jose Torrealba but his shot on goal on the follow up was not powerful enough to trouble Tignyemb.
As Chiefs threw men into attack they almost conceded a goal on the counterattack after 66 minutes of play. Tlou Segolela was sent through on goal down right; as he came closer to goal Khune ran off his line the Celtic striker chipped the ball over Khune and onto the right hand post. Excellent Walaza was quick to pick up the loose ball but Isaacs had made up enough ground to block his shot.
Into the 80th minute Jimmy Jambo struck the ball ferociously with his left foot from about 20 yards from goal. Tignyemb at full stretch managed to block the ball which fell to Torrealba, who controlled the ball with his chest but could not find Tignyemb’s goal with his overhead kick. Segolela again caught Chiefs on the counter attack in the 81st minute this time he put his effort wide of Khune and into the side netting.
Kaizer Chiefs (1) 1 (Sibeko 36’)
Bloemfontein Celtic (1) 1 (Nthethe 22’)
Chiefs (4-4-2): Khune; Tau, Rooi, Isaacs, Jambo; Mathebula (Dladla 76’), Sibeko (Nale 61’), Nengomasha, Letsholonyane; Motaung (Nhleko 69’), Torrealba
Celtic (4-42): Tignyemb; Khaile, Sambu, Goldstone, Motlhaping; Segolela, Nthethe, Olomu, Mayambela (Tsotetsi 44’), Oerson (Nhlapo 79’); Ndlovu (Walaza 57’)
