A ruthless effort from the Amakhosi saw Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Kingston Nkhatha and Mandla Masango (4-0) all get onto the score-sheet and the trio ensured the Soweto giants a comfortable day’s play in front of a lively FNB crowd.
Chiefs become the last team into the semifinals of the top eight knockout Cup, after Bidvest Wits beat Bloemfontein Celtic on Friday, while Pirates edged SuperSport United and Platinum Stars shocked Mamelodi Sundowns in Pretoria on Saturday.
Chiefs wasted no time at all and soon went ahead as Letsholonyane danced his way through Aces’ defence, with a little help from George Maluleka and George Lebese, who supplied superb touches on the edge of the area to allow the dreadlocked midfielder to break the deadlock as early as the second minute.
Aces were left shell-shocked and soon goalkeeper Bafana Nhlapo had to pick the ball up from the back of his net, this time courtesy of a thunderous effort from Nkhatha, who drilled his effort from outside the area and left Nhlapo at sixes-and-sevens as the ball sailed past his ears.
Nkhatha was having a thrilling afternoon and came close to his second on 15 minutes when he brushed the far post after a well-worked move sent the striker through on goal, but from a tight angle.
Having had little to worry about in the first 45, Chiefs headed out into the second half looking to add a third. They did just that on 60 minutes when Masango easily beat Nhlapo, after going around the shot-stopper and netting into an empty goal to stretch the home side’s lead to three.
Masango wasn’t done and soon secured his brace when he swept home his second to blow a hapless Aces side away and continued Chiefs’ run in the R8-million prize winner’s cup.
—Goal
