A Dull Hour, Then Chiefs Finally Wake Up
Cold night at FNB Stadium, and for a long while the football matched the weather. Kaizer Chiefs, still stinging from Sunday’s shock MTN8 exit against Golden Arrows, made five changes and looked sluggish for large stretches of the first half — misplacing passes, failing to string much together in the final third, and generally struggling to impose themselves on a Sekhukhune side managed by their own former co-coach, Cedric Kaze, making an emotional return to the ground where he once worked.
It stayed goalless at the break, a fairly forgettable 45 minutes where both sides gave the ball away too easily and chances were few and far between. There was a genuine scare for Sekhukhune too, right on the stroke of halftime — Vuyo Letlapa went down in real pain after an earlier challenge from Dillan Solomons and had to be stretchered off, replaced by new signing Mokibelo Ramabu.
Baartman Breaks the Deadlock
Chiefs came out with more urgency after the break. Langelihle Phili forced the first real save of the match in the 53rd minute, and shortly after, Ighodaro dragged a decent chance wide from the edge of the box. The breakthrough finally arrived in the 63rd minute, and it came from a well-worked move — Phili slipped a through ball for Solomons, who drove into the box and crossed low, and 20-year-old Luke Baartman slid in to finish first-time for his first-ever goal in Chiefs colours. FNB Stadium finally had something to cheer.
Sekhukhune tried to respond, and Brandon Petersen had to be alert in the Chiefs goal, palming away a snapshot from Mojela to keep the visitors at arm’s length. But Chiefs, sensing the game slipping away from Kaze’s side, kept pushing for more, and Fernando Da Cruz turned to his bench to add fresh legs — sacrificing both goalscorer Baartman and Velebayi for Mfundo Vilakazi and Mduduzi Shabalala.
Shabalala Seals It Late
The change paid off almost immediately. In the 84th minute, Siphesihle Ndlovu played a lovely through ball that split the Sekhukhune defense, and Shabalala ran onto it and finished coolly to make it 2-0. Phili nearly added a third moments later, firing narrowly wide, but by that point Sekhukhune’s night was already over — Kaze’s previously unbeaten start to life in charge came crashing down against the very club he used to coach.
What It Means Next
It’s back-to-back wins to open the Betway Premiership season for Chiefs, who move to the top of the early table on six points and set up a mouth-watering Saturday date with Mamelodi Sundowns at the same venue. For Sekhukhune, it’s their first defeat under Kaze after two wins to start his tenure, including that dramatic extra-time MTN8 win over AmaZulu, and a frustrating return to FNB Stadium for a coach who could hardly have scripted it worse.
Match Summary
Kaizer Chiefs 2-0 Sekhukhune United Betway Premiership — FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa Wednesday, 12 August 2026
Goals: 63′ Luke Baartman (Kaizer Chiefs) 1-0 (assist: Dillan Solomons) 84′ Mduduzi Shabalala (Kaizer Chiefs) 2-0 (assist: Siphesihle Ndlovu)
Result: Kaizer Chiefs win 2-0 to move top of the Betway Premiership table with a perfect start to the season. Sekhukhune United suffer their first defeat under new coach Cedric Kaze.
For live PSL scores and match coverage, visit fawanews. Full results and standings at the official Betway Premiership website.
