Asanele Velebayi earns praise after decisive Kaizer Chiefs cameo

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando da Cruz praised Asanele Velebayi after the winger scored the goal that sent his side into the Carling Knockout semi-finals.

The Soweto club recovered from a goal down to beat Siwelele FC 2-1, with Velebayi coming off the bench to complete the comeback.

The 15-minute substitute struck the winning goal after being played in by fellow replacement Flavio da Silva.

Da Cruz said Velebayi’s contribution reflected the work he had put in during training, despite having had limited opportunities to play.

“I’m very happy for Velebayi because he worked a lot at training,” Da Cruz told SuperSport after the match.

“He didn’t get a lot of minutes for the moment but the most important, it’s when he comes in to help the team and to support the team and today, he offered us the qualification.”

The result secured Kaizer Chiefs’ place in the last four, although Da Cruz believed his team should have taken a lead into half-time after controlling much of the opening period.

“The most important it’s the qualification, we made a very good first half, normally we deserve to be in front in terms of a goal at halftime, but we didn’t do it,” he said.

Kaizer Chiefs also began the second half strongly, according to their coach, before their performance dipped and they were left anxious as the match reached its conclusion.

“In the second half, we made 20 good first minutes and we dropped a little bit, we scored and we finished the game afraid, but the most important thing is the qualification.”

Kaizer Chiefs will face Mamelodi Sundowns in the Carling Knockout semi-finals after the international break.