Kaizer Chiefs remain on track with CAF knockout qualification following a narrow win over Wydad Casablanca. The victory came despite Chiefs being reduced to nine men before the final whistle.
Bernard Parker headed the winner early in the second half.
Chiefs were the first to test the water inside ten minutes when Lebogang Manyama attempted a shot from 20 meters, but the ball rolled wide.
The Amakhosi kept piling on pressure, resulting in several more opportunities, with Daniel Cardoso’s shocking miss in front of an empty goal being their best chance.
Halfway through the first period, Chiefs looked in total control of the game, but the opener was still out of sight.
A mistake in the Wydad defence nearly materialised Cheifs possession dominance but the resulting one-on-one was wasted.
And then the pendulum swung in favour of Wydad, when Daniel Akpeyi was sent for an early shower for handling the ball outside the box. The resulting free-kick blowing the dust out of the right post.
Gavin Hunt reacted by bringing in Itumeleng Khune for Manyama before the tick of the first half.
Two minutes after the break, Parker calmly capitalized on panicky defending from Wydad and headed the ball over Isa Ciudi to break the deadlock.
Chiefs then sank back, inviting Wydad to attack. The equalizer, however, remained a mirage for the Moroccans.
Then Khune dove heroically to clear a furious 35-meter thunder destined for his top-right corner.
Parker then missed a great chance to double his tally before Wydad failed on two more occasions to get level.
The Chiefs finished the game with nine men after Samir Nurkovic brought a second yellow card upon himself. However that didn’t matter, and the match ended 1-0.
The win kept Amakhosi’s chances for the knockout stage alive, postponing the culmination in Group C for April 10, when the Chiefs travel to Guinea to play Horoya.