Chippa knock out champions Galaxy to reach Cup last-16
TS Galaxy’s reign as Nedbank Cup champions has come to an end following a 3-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in the opening round of 32 clash on Wednesday night.
Ruzaigh Gamildien of Chippa United and his team mates celebrate the 1st goal during the 2020 Nedbank Cup game between Chippa United and TS Galaxy at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. (Deryck Foster/BackpagePix)
The GladAfrica Championship (second tier) club had no answer to the superior class and composure of the top-flight Chilli Boys, who scored via a stunner from Ruzaigh Gamildien and a brace by Augustine Kwem.
The first chance of the match went the way of Chippa in the 11th minute, with Augustine Kwem intercepting a pass across Galaxy’s defence before sending a long-range shot wide of goalkeeper Ludwe Mpakumpaku’s left-hand post.
The visitors soon showed their potency in attack, putting together a slick passing move in the final third that ended with a tame shot from Tshepo Chaine which was easily claimed by Veli Mothwa.
On 17 minutes the Chilli Boys should have claimed the lead, with Thabiso Lebitso doing great work down the right flank to create a clear chance for Ruzaigh Gamildien, but the forward dragged his shot wide of the target.
Chances were harder to come by through the remainder of the first half, while the Rockets had an appeal for a penalty turned down by the referee with just under 10 minutes of regulation time left before the break. The first stanza ended with the score line locked at 0-0.
Chippa made two changes within the opening 15 minutes of the second half, sending on Meshack Maphangule and Silas Maziya in an effort to spark their attack to life, and they were rewarded with a brilliant goal just past the hour mark.
Gamildien made up for his first-half miss with a superb long-range strike, which saw him control a long ball, hold off a defender to open up space and send a dipping shot beyond the reach of Mpakumpaku’s outstretched right hand.
Galaxy nearly came up with an equaliser on 69 minutes, with captain Terrence Mashego cutting inside from the left flank to shoot on target with his right foot, but Mothwa pawed the ball away for a corner kick.
Just when it seemed as if the Rockets were building up a head of steam, the Chilli Boys doubled their lead in the 74th minute. Mpakumpaku allowed a low cross from Maziya to squirm away from him and Kwem was on hand to tap home from close range and end the game as a contest.
There was still time in the dying minutes for Chippa to add a third, with a mistake in defence allowing Gamildien to tee up Kwem, who raced through to poke a shot beyond the goalkeeper and wrap up the scoring at 3-0.
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