A what free kick from Nkosingiphile Ngcobo after Hlongwane get a ruff tackle Ngcobo scored the free kick . and a late penalty scored by Glody Lilepo, saw Kaizer Chiefs open their 2025/26 Betway Premiership campaign with a well-earned 2-0 win over Stellenbosch FC at the Athlone stadium in Cape Town on Sunday.IN the last minutes Chiefs got penalty Lilepo scores
In a match where the hosts were reduced to 10 players early in the first half when Siviwe Nkwali was sent off in the 13th minute, the margin of victory might have been wider, as Chiefs dominated large portions of the play.
Amakhosi got off to a bright start in front of a large turnout of passionate fans bedecked in the famous Gold & Black, forcing four corners in quick succession as they pinned their hosts back from the first whistle.
Stellies, themselves, then had a series of corners at the other end, one of which drew a fine save from Brandon Petersen in the Chiefs goal.
Then, in the 13th minute, Nkwali impeded Shabalala as he ran on to a through ball behind the Stellenbosch back line from Naledi Hlongwane and the referee had no hesitation in issuing a red card to the defender, as he denied Shabalala a clear scoring opportunity.
From the resultant free kick 25 yards out, ‘Mshini’ stepped up to place a perfect strike past Sage Stephens into the top corner of the net to give Amakhosi a deserved lead on 15 minutes.
Stellenbosch tried to mount a response and Chiefs needed to be vigilant as Devin Titus, Andre De Jong and Enyinnaya Godswill all looked dangerous in attacking forays.
At the other end, Amakhosi threaten to go further ahead with efforts from impressive academy graduate, Hlongwane and, particularly, Wandile Duba, who was a constant cause of concern to Stellenbosch, coming in from the right flank. Lilepo went closest, heading debutant, Thabiso Monyane’s cross wide in the 40th minute, as the first half ended with the Glamour Boys a goal, and a player, to the good.
Early in the second half, Bradley Cross rose to meet a corner but headed over and, not long afterwards, just short of the hour mark, Aiden McCarthy saw his close-range header from a Shabalala cross fly narrowly wide of the post. Minutes later, Inacio Miguel and Shabalala had shots blocked and Duba fired too high, as Amakhosi turned up the heat.
Stellenbosch, to their credit, held their ground by remaining compact and difficult to play through, while occasionally springing out on the counter attack but with time taking its toll and Chiefs capitalising on their numerical advantage, further chances fell to Lilepo, whose effort was off target, and Duba, who drew a save out of Stephens from a tight angle in the 77th minute.
With five minutes remaining, the lively Lilepo was foiled by a good save from Stephens, low to his right, followed shortly afterwards by attempts from substitutes, Gaston Sirino and Mfundo Vilakazi, the failed to trouble the Stellenbosch goalkeeper.
