Behind, wasteful, then rescued from the bench
For most of Sunday night in Limpopo it had the look of another long evening for Amakhosi. A goal down inside a quarter of an hour. A penalty that went begging. Then a substitute who had never scored for the club found the net with the clock running down, and Polokwane exhaled.
The Chiefs v Siwelele result: Kaizer Chiefs 2, Siwelele 1, in the knockout cup quarter-final at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. Siyabonga Ndebele gave the visitors an early lead, Wandile Duba levelled from the spot just before half-time, and Asanele Velebayi scored the winner late on. The Citizen, iDiski Times and Pan Africa Football all reported the 2-1 after the final whistle.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 Siwelele |
| Half-time | 1-1 |
| Chiefs goals | Wandile Duba (penalty, end of the first half), Asanele Velebayi (late second half) |
| Siwelele goal | Siyabonga Ndebele (early first half) |
| Penalty missed | Mduduzi Shabalala (Chiefs, first half) |
| Venue | Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane |
| Coaches | Fernando Da Cruz (Chiefs), Godfrey Mosoetsa, caretaker (Siwelele) |
| Semi-final | Mamelodi Sundowns |
An early goal and a wasted kick
Siwelele are 14th in the league, but they did not travel north to defend. Brandon Petersen had already kept out a Vincent Pule shot when the visitors went in front about 12 minutes in. Ndebele was the scorer. The Citizen describes a header from a corner and iDiski Times a finish from a rebound, so we will leave the detail there.
Chiefs had the chance to reply soon after the half-hour. Mfundo Vilakazi was brought down in the area, The Citizen and Pan Africa Football report, and Shabalala took the kick. He did not score: The Citizen has it flying over the bar, while Pan Africa Football has it striking the crossbar.
Chiefs v Siwelele result: how Amakhosi turned it round
Shabalala then made up for it the way that counts. Just before half-time he was fouled in the area himself, according to The Citizen and Pan Africa Football, and this time Duba stepped up. He went down the middle as Jody February dived to his left, and it was level at the break.
The second half was tighter and more anxious. Chiefs had openings to go ahead, The Citizen and iDiski Times report, but did not take them, and Da Cruz went to his bench. Velebayi replaced Shabalala with about a quarter of an hour left, The Citizen reports. Within ten minutes he had decided the tie. In The Citizen’s account, a poor pass from Siwelele substitute Sabre Benjamin let Flavio Da Silva in, and Da Silva set up Velebayi to slot past February. The Citizen puts the goal on 84 minutes and Pan Africa Football on 83, and The Citizen notes it was Velebayi’s first goal since he joined Chiefs in 2025.
According to iDiski Times, Chiefs had made two changes from the side that lost the Soweto Derby, with two defenders suspended. It is the club’s first semi-final in this competition since 2024, iDiski Times adds.
Why it matters
Chiefs came to Polokwane out of the MTN8, out of the Confederation Cup and a week removed from losing the Soweto Derby to Pirates. Our Chiefs v Siwelele preview set out how much this cup had come to mean to Da Cruz and to the club’s patience. A defeat here would have carried into a three-week international break.
Our view: this is ScoreLine’s opinion. Conceding from a set piece, then missing a penalty against a side in the bottom half of the table, is not semi-final form, and Chiefs will know it. But cup ties reward nerve, and the way they responded to going behind showed some. The goal also tells you something about Da Cruz’s bench: he needed a change, he made one, and it worked. Whether that becomes a habit matters more than one night in Limpopo.
No post-match words from Da Cruz or Mosoetsa had appeared in any report we read by 21:08 on Sunday.
What comes next
The semi-final draw was made at Peter Mokaba Stadium straight after the match, and it gives Chiefs Mamelodi Sundowns, who were beaten by USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup at Loftus Versfeld earlier on Sunday. Orlando Pirates, through after Saturday’s 1-0 against Sekhukhune United, meet Stellenbosch in the other tie. The PSL had not announced dates, venues or kick-off times when we checked on Sunday night.
Before any of that comes the international break. Chiefs’ next league outing is at Chippa United in Gqeberha on Saturday 28 November. They go into it with a cup semi-final to look forward to, which is more than seemed likely after that missed penalty.