Bafana’s Afcon 2019 hopes hang in the balance

It was a decent performance from the home team, against an opponent which looked happy to settle for the draw, in the second half in particular.

However, were it not for two incorrectly disallowed goals by Nigeria, it could have been a different outcome for Stuart Baxter’s side, which equalised midway through the first half through Lebo Mothiba after an early own goal by Buhle Mkhwanazi.

While the Super Eagles (10 points) are now guaranteed a place in next year’s Afcon, Bafana (nine points) need to avoid defeat away to Libya in their final match in March next year to qualify for Cameroon 2019. Libya are currently on seven points after an 8-1 thrashing of the Seychelles earlier on Saturday.

On a hot afternoon in Soweto – the temperatures were hovering above 30 degrees, there was a disappointing turn-out of fans; the stadium only around a third full, including a substantial number of Nigerian supporters.

And they saw their team getting off to a positive start as Ahmed Musa got in the first shot on goal, saved comfortably by Itumeleng Khune with five minutes played, before the visitors were prevented from taking the lead by an incorrect offside call two minutes later.

And it was the Super Eagles who drew first blood when Samuel Kalu left Sifiso Hlanti for dead, before his ninth minute cross deflected off the shoulder of Mkhwanazi and past Khune and into goal.

Bafana, however, responded positively and it took a brilliant tackle from Kalu to stop Percy Tau firing in an equaliser a couple of minutes after the goal.

While Musa’s pace was giving the Bafana defence some cause for concern, the hosts continued to probe for openings around the Nigerian box. And they had their reward in the 26th minute when Tau brilliantly faked a shot, beating three defenders in the process, and then unselfishly set up Mothiba for a simple tap-in.

The remainder of the first half remained evenly-balanced, with only one further chance, falling the way of Kelechi Iheanacho nine minutes before the interval, but after a clever pass by Musa, a poor first touch from Iheanacho saw the opportunity wasted.

With Nigeria, who play the Seychelles in their final qualifier, not desperate for the victory, South Africa continued to enjoy plenty of ball in the second half.

But they struggled to penetrate the opposition defence and it was the visitors who had the first clear chance of the second period when Kenneth Omeruo sent a header inches wide from a Kalu corner kick in the 74th minute.

With seven minutes to play, a mistake in the Bafana midfield resulted in Alex Iwobi playing in Musa, who slotted the ball past Khune and into the net, only to again be ruled offsides when replays clearly showed the goal should have stood.

That proved to be the last bit of goalmouth action as the west Africans comfortably kept Bafana Bafana at bay in the dying minutes of the game to book their spot at the Afcon finals next year.

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