Bafana Bafana improved their chances of making it to the last-16 stage of Africa Nations Championship (Chan) after beating Guinea 2-1 at Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, on Monday.
Molefi Ntseki's side, which is made up mainly of unattached players, won through goals by skipper Neo Maema and Thabiso Kutumela, who has now scored two goals in this tournament.
Maema, the Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder who is set to join Simba SC of Tanzania on loam after the tournament, opened the scoring in the 10th minute after combining well with Kutumela who supplied the final pass.
But Bafana always looked under pressure from the Guineans after taking the lead and duly conceded an equaliser in the 38th minute when they allowed Moussa Camara enough space to shoot inside the area.
Just as they did in the first half, it took Bafana 10 minutes in the second half to restore their lead, this time Maema finding Wayde Jooste free wide on the right for him to square for Kutumela to score.
Despite Guinea piling on more pressure to find an equaliser, Bafana managed to protect their lead to earn a win which could prove crucial in their aim to progress to the knockout round.
It was Kutumela's equaliser which also earned Bafana a 1-1 draw at this venue last Friday in their opening encounter against Algeria.
With four points after two matches Ntseki's team may need to win one of the two of their last games to make it to the last 16.
Bafana will face Niger on Friday before completing their Group C matches by facing the hosts Uganda on Monday.
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