Johannesburg – Bafana Bafana romped to a 3-0 victory over Mauritius in their African Nations Championships (Chan) first-leg qualifier at the Dobsonville Stadium, on Saturday.
A three-goal blitz in the first half, orchestrated by Siphelele Ntshangase with two goals, helped the home side dominate their opponents.
After Shakes Mashaba’s side had gone without a goal in three successive matches, they have now notched up five goals in the space of a week following their 2-1 friendly win over Angola on Tuesday in Cape Town.
In the 25th minute, Marc van Heerden had a free-kick from 30 metres out, and the Mauritius goalkeeper Kevin Jean-Louis had to make a good save to tip the ball over for a corner.
From the resulting set-piece, Bafana scored their opening goal. A short corner was taken before the ball was sent in by Van Heerden and Thamsanqa Gabuza at the far post was unmarked as he smashed the ball into the roof of the net to make it 1-0.
Two minutes later, Bafana doubled their lead as Mandla Masango reeled off a defence-splitting pass. Midfielder Ntshangase was clinical with a first-time shot from close range to grab a 2-0 lead for his side.
Masango had a great chance to make it 3-0 to the hosts, but his goal-bound attempt from inside the area was tipped inches wide of the target with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first period.
Bafana, however, did manage a third before the half-time whistle. Ntshangase completed his brace a minute before the break. Receiving the ball on the edge of the area, the Black Leopards player took the ball away from two defenders before blasting the ball into the back of the net.
Just before the hour mark, Van Heerden had a free-kick saved by the Jean-Louis in almost identical fashion to his earlier attempt as the ball was narrowly tipped over the crossbar.
To compound their woes, Mauritius were reduced to 10 men when David Lengclume received his marching orders for second yellow card in the 79th minute. - ANA