A man-of-the match performance from Lucky Baloyi handed Kaizer Motaung the perfect birthday present as he saw Kaizer Chiefs beat Black Leopards 2-0 in an Absa Premiership match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Sunday afternoon (16/10).

Baloyi was a class above the rest on Sunday as he scored what proved to be the winning goal and created the second one for Lehlohonolo Majoro, which sealed victory for the Amakhosi.

Chiefs never looked like losing the match, but the Amakhosi were growing visibly agitated before eventually breaking the deadlock with 30 minutes to go. The frustration came about because Chiefs were completely dominant throughout the game, controlling the possession and dictating the flow of play but were unable to get the ball past a stubborn Leopards goalkeeper.

The home side’s Postnett Omony was in fine fettle, making a number of excellent saves in the first half and thereby keeping his side in the game, before finally seeing his goalline breached in the second 45 minutes.

In the first half, it only took 14 minutes before the Leopards goal minder was called into action to deny Baloyi after a volley from the Chiefs´ man on the edge of the box saw Omony at full stretch to his right to make the save. In the 23rd minute, it was the turn of Siphiwe Tshabalala to test Omony, but again the Leopards keeper was up for the challenge with another acrobatic save to his left, palming away a low 18-yard drive from the Bafana left winger.

Five minutes later and Sthembiso Ngcobo found himself through on goal, with only the keeper to beat, but Omony was quickly off his line to smother the attacker. The ball, however, rebounded to Tshabalala, who fired over the crossbar with the keeper out of position and an empty net at his mercy. Tshabalala was once again in the thick of the action two minutes later with a thunderbolt from 25 yards out that finally beat the keeper, but struck the right-hand post and bounced away from danger.

Leopards´ only chance of the half came in the 39th minute, after some good pressing from Rodney Ramagalela saw him steal the ball off Brent Lawler and drive forward before unleashing a powerful 25-yard shot that went inches wide of the target. The second half saw Chiefs continue to apply the pressure, but with little effect, until a quick counter-attack in the 60th minute concluded with Baloyi finding the back of the net from just inside the 18-yard area, finally seeing Omony’s resistance come to an end. Nineteen minutes later, Chiefs sealed victory with their second goal. This time, Baloyi turned provider when he supplied a well-driven pass across the face of the Leopards´ goal and all Majoro had to do was toe-poke the ball into an empty net.

The loss for Leopards means they remain second from the bottom of the PSL table, with the worst goal difference of minus seven, while the win sees Chiefs move up to second on the table. (BackpageTxt)