Kaizer Chiefs’ injury curse falls on key player again!

Kaizer Chiefs coach Fernando Da Cruz has confirmed they had to face Red Arrows on Friday without Renaldo Leaner owing to an injury.

The former Sekhukhune United shot stopper has been impressive for the Glamour Boys since taking over, albeit on an interim basis, from the then injured Brandon Petersen. The former was in goal in the first leg of the second preliminary round in Zambia where he made some impressive saves in the 1-0 loss.

On Friday, however, Bruce Bvuma started in goal, with Petersen starting from the bench. But there was no sign of Leaner who the supporters had anticipated to see him start.

Amakhosi won 1-0 in regulation time, before falling 3-2 on penalties to crash out of the annual competition.

Where was Leaner to save Amakhosi?

Da Cruz has now confirmed that the 28-year-old was injured in training which saw him miss the crucial game against the Red Arrows.

“Renaldo was injured in his finger [on Wednesday],” Da Cruz confirmed in a presser.

“So, he couldn’t play and we said yesterday, we haven’t been lucky with injuries.

“When you see our team today, we have five players injured, and when you look at the performance of the team, it’s very positive,” Da Cruz concluded.

With Petersen fit and Bvuma dispalying a good game on Friday despite the defeat, it is interesting to see who will claim the No.1 jersey when all the three are available. Amakhosi now have the Carling Knockout, Nedbank Cup and the Premier Soccer League to challenge.