- Zakhele Lepasa netted for Bafana in a memorable win
- Percy Tau forced an own goal from Morocco's goalkeeper
- Bafana beat Atlas Lions for the first time in close to two decades
WHAT HAPPENED: South Africa managed to beat Morocco for the first time since 2002 as Hugo Broos' side chiseled out a 2-1 win over the 2022 Fifa World Cup semi-finalists. Morocco are the number one ranked side on the continent and with both sides having already qualified, the win sees Bafana moving to the summit of Group K with seven points in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
For the opener, Percy Tau and Teboho Mokoena worked a short corner and the idea looked to be crossed into the box by Tau, who was the one who took the corner kick. But his effort swung closer to goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi, who was set for a routine save but his butter hands let the ball slip from his grasp and he had to agonizingly watch the ball creep into the back of the net.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Lepasa made it a habit to score in recent call ups and it was his goal that saw Bafana secure all three points.
Lepasa netted the second goal for Bafana and in a touch of class, he celebrated in the same fashion that former South Africa head coach Clive Barker would spread his arms like an aeroplane and run in jubilation. Lepasa benefited from another mistake by Mohamedi, who could not find his feet as the ball went through his legs before it reached the SuperSport United goal-getter.
ZWANE'S INFLUENCE: Themba Zwane was the instigator of the attack as he navigated from deep in midfield into Morocco's box before playing a pass to Mihlali Mayambela, who then went for glory but only managed to get a shibobo past Mohamedi, and the ball fell on the path of Lepasa who made no mistake in close range.
Next matches
Hakim Ziyech got the consolation goal for the Atlas Lions around the hour mark as he netted his 20th goal in the colours of Morocco.
WHAT'S NEXT: Bafana have concluded their qualifying campaign which saw them book a spot in the finals which will be hosted by Ivory Coast next year. Meanwhile, Morocco have a chance to restore their lead at the top as they play Liberia in September this year.