Eva Nga hat-trick hands Chippa victory against 10-man Maritzburg

Chippa United registered their first victory of the season with a 3-1 win over 10-man Maritzburg United during their DStv Premiership match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Tuesday night.

The much-needed win for the Chilli Boys was influenced by the first hat-trick of this season by Cameroonian striker Bienvenu Eva Nga, who found the back of the net once in the first half and twice after the break.

Eva Nga’s first two goals were conversions from the penalty spot where he sent Maritzburg goalkeeper Jethren Barr the wrong way and he went for the far post for his third of the night.

The win has moved Chippa from the bottom half of the table to fourth spot while Maritzburg have early season blues as they remain second from the bottom with three losses from as many matches.

Maritzburg took an early 10th minute lead through midfielder Dylon Claasen, whose effort got the better of Chippa goalkeeper Veli Mothwa after he connected with a ball that rebounded off Xolani Mahola.

Chippa drew level after 24 minutes when Eva Nga sent Barr the wrong way from the spot after Augustine Kwen was hacked inside the box by Nathanael Mbourou.

During the closing stages of the first half, Mothwa was forced to produce a decent save to deny Maritzburg attacker Thabiso Kutumela from the edge of the box after the Bafana Bafana striker received the ball from Tebogo Tlolane.

Mothwa was well-positioned to be able to adequately deal with a mistimed close range shot from former Mamelodi Sundowns striker Ali Meza after 51 minutes as Maritzburg went in search of another goal.

Chippa retook the lead just before the hour mark and once again from the spot by Eva Nga for his second goal after he was brought down in the box by Barr, who moved out of his line.

Five minutes later, Eva Nga stretched the game beyond the reach of Maritzburg with his hat-trick goal after he was released by a defence splitting pass from Tumiso Magakwe.

Maritzburg’s efforts of trying to launch a comeback suffered a huge setback in the 74th minute when substitute Sibusiso Hlubi was given his marching orders for a reckless tackle on Sizwe Mlanzo.

With the MTN8 semifinal, second legs and the Fifa window over the next two weeks, both teams will only return to action on November 21 with Chippa visiting Stellenbosch FC and Maritzburg also away to Black Leopards.