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Once the Soweto giants had scored, it was all about holding onto the victory, which they achieved thanks to a penalty save from Itumeleng Khune.
Kaizer Chiefs’ valiant 1-0 win over PWD Bamenda in the first leg of the Caf Champions League preliminary round on Sunday afternoon in Limbe was especially enjoyable for head coach Gavin Hunt.
In what was Amakhosi’s ninth game in all competitions this season, it was only his third win.
It came at a time when the pressure had been building after some particularly disappointing results, including a loss to Swallows FC a few days earlier, not to mention a 5-0 aggregate beating at the hands of the Orlando Pirates on the two-legged MTN8. semifinals.
Sunday’s win against PWD Bamenda also came against the backdrop of Amakhosi stepping into the unknown against a team that little was known about. Victory was ensured by a goal from Eric Mathoho with seven minutes remaining, as well as a late penalty save from Itumeleng Khune.
Hunt was proud of his charges for the character they displayed in West Africa.
“In very difficult circumstances, I thought it was an incredible victory,” he said. “I mean the journey to get to this game was incredible. Everything around the game was very difficult, so I thought it was a fantastic effort.
“We could have made the game safer, we had a lot of chances that we didn’t score, and I thought ‘here we go again,'” Hunt said, alluding to some of the misfortunes his team has suffered so far. this season.”
For many years there has been talk about how difficult it is for South African teams to play away from home on the continent; that referees tend to favor the home team.
The former SuperSport United and Bidvest manager alluded to this, which he believes was the case with the late penalty his team awarded, though he was careful in his words not to say it directly.
In fact, he thinks it was a blessing in disguise that the Chiefs’ goal came so late, because it gave the home team less time to come back.
“But we got the goal, and we knew there would be problems after that, luckily we did well and late.
“It should never have been a shame, right?” he questioned. “But I told the players, once we score, there will be problems. And yes, we did get a small reward.”
The return match takes place at the FNB stadium on Friday night.
