CHAN Qualifying: Malawi Flames edge Bafana Bafana in first leg
- Peter Kanjere
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Malawi used their home ground advantage to edge South Africa's Bafana Bafana 1-0 in a 2025 African Nations Championship (CHAN) final qualifying round, first leg match on Saturday.
Substitute Zeliet Nkhoma's late goal torched celebrations at Bingu National Stadium in the capital, Lilongwe, for the Flames to take a slender lead going into the second leg in Pretoria next Sunday.
A huge crowd filled the stadium, confident Kalisto Pasuwa's men would build on their 2-0 home and away wins over Comoros in the preliminary round of the qualifiers.
Striker Binwell Katinji, scorer of three goals in the two games against Comoros, looked sharper for the hosts but could not find his shooting range against the visitors who started the game cautiously. Both teams went into the break without a goal.
In the second half, Pasuwa freshened up his side by introducing the likes of Nkhoma who made the difference. South Africa were caught out in possession as winger Wisdom Mpinganjira made his marauding run on the left wing. The Mighty Wanderers player whipped in the ball, which Bafana Bafana defender deflected out for a corner-kick amid handball appeals for the hosts.
The Flames finally got the breakthrough from the corner kick as Nkhoma timed his jump in the box to guide the ball into the net.
The second leg will take place in Pretoria on May 11. Gambia will host Algeria in their first leg qualifying encounter later on Saturday.
