Menzi Magubane
Banyana Banyana are in the quarter-finals of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations after beating Burundi 3-1 in Morocco on Thursday night.
Despite coming out on top in their second match in Group C, Banyana were guilty of squandering too many clear scoring chances.
They should have wrapped it up in the first half after missing at least two clear cut chances. But credit must be given to Burundi who held their own – especially their goalkeeper Jeanine Irakoze, who had a number of brilliant saves to avoid total humiliation.
It took Banyana 20 minutes to open up the scoring. Thembi Kgatlana scored her first goal of the tournament inside the big box after combining well with Noxolo Cesane.
However, the lead only lasted 10 minutes as the Burundians equalised after catching Banyana’s defence wide open. Captain Asha Djafari left Noko Matlou dead inside the box to assist Aniella Uwimana who beat Andile Dlamini to make it 1-1 after 30 minutes.
Banyana were quick to restore their lead with Amogelang Motau who also scored her first goal of the tournament to make it 2-1 after 32 minutes.
In the second stanza Banyana continued to miss chances and Irakoze continued with heroics for the Burundians. But in the 52nd minute she made a mistake when she fouled Kgatlana and the referee pointed to the spot.
Linda Motlhalo, who came on as a substitute, scored the penalty to put Banyana 3-1 ahead and that spot-kick proved to be the winner for Desiree Ellis’s girls.
The defeat saw Burundi eliminated after losing two matches in a row.
Image source: @iDiskiTimes
