Friday hurt. A shoot-out in Durban, Africa gone before November, and a coach under pressure. On Tuesday night at FNB Stadium, Kaizer Chiefs supporters needed something to hold on to, and for 45 minutes they had nothing. Then Wandile Duba gave them three things. In 18 minutes.
The Chiefs TS Galaxy cup result reads 3-0, every goal Duba’s, and it puts Amakhosi into the quarter-finals of the knockout cup. It also changes the temperature of the week. This was Chiefs’ first match since the penalty exit to Red Arrows, and the Soweto Derby against Orlando Pirates is on Saturday, at this same stadium. A defeat would have turned Saturday into a verdict. Instead Chiefs go into it with a striker in form.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Kaizer Chiefs 3-0 TS Galaxy |
| Half-time | 0-0 |
| Goals | Wandile Duba (3), all in the second half |
| Venue | FNB Stadium, Johannesburg |
| Stage | Knockout cup, last 16 |
| Next for Chiefs | Soweto Derby v Orlando Pirates, Saturday 31 October, 15:30 |
How the Chiefs TS Galaxy cup result took shape
The first half was nervy and scrappy. In the sixth minute Seluleko Mahlambi went down in the Chiefs box and was booked for diving by referee Siyabulela Qunta, The Citizen and the Sowetan reported. Duba was booked for dissent soon afterwards, The Citizen noted.
He was also wasteful. iDiski Times described a glaring miss from a Mfundo Vilakazi through pass in the 14th minute, and The Citizen recorded a shot dragged wide and a long-range effort saved on 22 minutes. At the other end, Brandon Petersen, back in the starting line-up as captain, kept out a toe-poke from Thulani Zandamela just before the break, according to The Citizen. Goalless at half-time.
Duba’s 18 minutes
It took three minutes of the second half to change everything. Pule Mmodi set Duba up inside the box and the striker scored on 48 minutes, the time the Sowetan, SoccerMag and MDNtv all give.
The second came the hard way. Galaxy substitute Veluyeke Zulu fouled Mduduzi Shabalala in the area, and Melusi Mathebula, making his Galaxy debut according to iDiski Times, kept out Vilakazi’s penalty. Duba got to the rebound first and buried it.
The third was the best of them. Shabalala slid a through ball behind the Galaxy defence, Duba ran onto it and finished. The reports differ by a few minutes on exactly when the second and third goals arrived, but The Citizen and SoccerMag both count the hat-trick inside 18 minutes.
Duba is 22. The treble doubled his tally for the season in all competitions, The Citizen reported. Four days before a derby, that is not a small detail.
The Soweto Derby picture
There was more good news at the back. Rushwin Dortley started, his first competitive game since March 2025, iDiski Times and the Sowetan reported. Inacio Miguel was not in the matchday squad, according to the Sowetan. The pre-match team news is in our last 16 preview, which also recalls Galaxy’s win over Chiefs in the 2019 Nedbank Cup final. Not this time.
Galaxy, for their part, arrived with one win from nine games this season, The Citizen noted, and they leave the competition at the first hurdle.
Our view: Beating a struggling Galaxy side at home does not fix everything Friday exposed, and a first half this blunt against the Rockets would be punished by Pirates. But cup nights are about the next round and the next mood, and Chiefs got both. A centre-forward with three goals in a single half is exactly the person you want walking into a derby week. Da Cruz needed a result. He has one, and a front line with some confidence in it.
What happens next
Saturday 31 October, 15:30, FNB Stadium: Chiefs meet Orlando Pirates in the Betway Premiership, the PSL has confirmed. How Soweto has been talking itself into that game since Friday is in Only in Mzansi Sport, and a supporter’s take on that strange Friday is in The Fan Seat. This morning’s Fluit’s Five called tonight a loaded cup night. For Chiefs, it ended lighter than it began.