Two from two for Banyana as they beat Burundi

Cape Town – Banyana Banyana qualified for the knockout stages of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday after securing an easy win over Burundi in Rabat.

Burundi, who were down to 10 players after Annociate Nshimirimana was given her marching orders, provided little resistance to Desiree Ellis’ well oiled team, that was looking for their second win in the tournament after starting with an impressive victory over Nigeria earlier in the week.

It took just 20 minutes for Banyana to open the scoring through Thembi Kgatlana. And while Aniella Uwimana pulled one back on the half-hour mark, South Africa went into the break leading 2-1.

That smile you give when you win Woman of the Match 😊

Refiloe Jane ladies and gentlemen 👏💚💛🇿🇦#TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 pic.twitter.com/CqyOYrGbY9

— Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) July 7, 2022

Linda Motlhalo added the third from the penalty spot in the 54th minute, and the team went into cruise control for the remainder of the match.

Speaking to the media after the game, coach Ellis was happy with her team’s performance, but irked that they conceded in the first half.

“We over eloborated at times, most of the shots that we took were practically straight at the goalkeeper, I thought she would get player of the match,” she said.

“We tried to change it a bit, we looked better. We created a lot of opportunities, but once again our rest defence were not ready for the counter. We conceded poorly once again.“

Banyana will be looking to finish the group stages with a 100% record when they face neighbours Botswana, who were busy playing Nigeria at the time of going to press, on Sunday.