Cape Town – South Africa's dreams of qualifying for the 2019 African Cup of Nations are very much alive after a convincing 6-0 victory over Seychelles at FNB Stadium.
As it happened: South Africa v Seychelles
Played in front of a sparse crowd both teams struggled to get into the match as the rain poured down after the kick-off.
South Africa had the first early chance which arrived in the 8th minute and saw Ramahlwe Mphahlele find Aubrey Modiba with a brilliant cross. Sadly, Modiba could only steer his header over the bar.
Percy Tau was the next with a chance to open the scoring in the 10th minute but he too could only head over the bar.
Tau almost atoned for his miss in the 14th minute with a brilliant free-kick which dipped over the wall, beat the keeper but not the crossbar.
Bafana Bafana were now pressing for the opening goal with the Seychelles keeper called to make two saves in the matter of a minute from Lebo Mothiba and Lebohang Maboe.
With all the pressure from the home side, something had to give and Bafana finally had their lead in the 22nd minute when Thulani Hlatshwayo header across goal was turned into his own net by Nigel Hoareau.
Just three minutes later, South Africa had doubled their lead thanks to Hlatshwayo who rose high to power a header into the visitors net to give the home side a well deserved 2-0 lead.
The few fans that turned up to the FNB stadium were rejoicing just a minute later as Mothiba scored with a fine effort into the top corner for a resounding 3-0 lead after just 26 minutes.
After three goals in the space of four minutes, things were always going to slow down a bit with the home side happy to sit on their lead till the break.
The second half saw Tau have two excellent chances in the 53rd and 56th minute.
The first effort was saved by the keeper while the second was blasted over the bar by the diminutive striker.
By the 60th minute, South Africa had registered 20 shots of which 10 were on goal and had around 72% possession to underline their domination.
Tau finally had his goal in the 74th minute after collecting a pass and rounding the keeper to score and to make it 4-0 to the home side.
South Africa added a fifth thanks to Dino Ndlovu and the sixth arrived in injury time from Teboho Mokoena to put a smile on coach Stuart Baxter's face.
The two teams will meet again on Tuesday in the Seychelles were a South African victory will all but guarantee their participation in the 2019 African Cup of Nations.
