Moses Mabhida - Kaizer Chiefs’s hopes of ending their seven-year cup drought came crashing down as they were held to a goalless draw by AmaZulu in the second leg of the MTN8 semifinals in front of approximately 60 000 fans here yesterday.

AmaZulu advanced to the final by virtue of their away goal as the first leg ended 1-1 at FNB Stadium early this month. Usuthu will meet Chiefs’ Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates in the decider at the same stadium on November 5. Victory for Chiefs would have ensured South Africans enjoy a rare treble of successive Soweto derbies, as the Soweto giants meet in the league next week and again on November 12 in the Carling Black Label Cup.

After missing the previous game, a 2-all draw against TS Galaxy midweek, striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana put the speculation to bed that he was going to be out for a month due to a thigh strain as he returned to spearhead the Amakhosi attack. However, Bimenyimana would not finish the match after sustaining what appeared to be a groin strain a few minutes before the hour-mark. Khama Billiat replaced him.

Brandon Petersen, who was said to have missed the Galaxy game because he was attending the birth of his baby, started ahead of Bruce Bvuma.

AmaZulu skipper Makhehleni Makhaula was also reinstated to the line-up after sitting out midweek’s 1-all stalemate at home to provincial foes Maritzburg United. Usuthu coach Romain Folz said he didn’t use Makhaula against Maritzburg because he feared he would accumulate his fourth yellow card, which would have ruled him out of yesterday’s tie.

One of the high points of the match was Chiefs fans jeering their shot-stopper, Peterson, for always staying out of the 18-area. The Amakhosi keeper almost gave the jeering fans more ammunition to attack him when he misplaced a pass, with AmaZulu striker Augustine Kwem benefitting from that slight error before ballooning the ball over the bar.

There was an exciting midfield battle between Chiefs’ Njabulo Blom and his Usuthu counterpart, George Maluleka. Blom outshone Maluleka in most of their duels, breaking down a number of attacks coming from the hosts. Kwem had a few half chances but his lack of composure let him down.

Sifiso Hlanti’s incredible last-ditch tackle on Kwem late in the first stanza was also the highlight of the half.  All in all, Usuthu had better chances than the visitors but the likes of Kwem and Siphesihle Maduna lacked that cutting edge to put those opportunities away.