South Africa 2-1 Angola: Lyle Foster hits stunning winner as Bafana Bafana win AFCON opener | OneFootball

Misfiring Burnley man capped poor performance with emphatic winner

Lyle Foster hit a stunning late winner as South Africa beat Angola in the opening match of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

But a tightly-contested second period was settled as misfiring Burnley striker Foster picked out the top-right corner with the clock winding down. It had until then been a forgettable performance for the 25-year-old, but he rewrote the narrative with his intervention, and perhaps renewed his claim to the starting No9 spot.

South Africa, then, immediately go top of Group B, if only temporarily.

While the match was level at the break, Angola would have been frustrated not to score more than the one goal they managed.

Ronwen Williams quickly established himself as the main character in the opening exchanges, making a smart diving stop to deny Gelson Dala’s header mere minutes into the match.

South Africa promptly clicked into gear and took the lead as Foster’s miscontrol allowed Appollis to pounce and lash the loose ball beyond Hugo Marques and into the bottom left corner.

Williams came up with another pair of reaction saves to deny headed efforts from Fredy and Gelson, before Show finally got the better of him, getting a crucial touch to a well-hit cross which snuck in at the near post.

The second half struggled to live up to the theatrics of the first. Tshepang Moremi was introduced off the bench at half-time and looked to have made an instant impact as he finished a smart team move with a laser-guided finish, but an offside in the build-up saw it chalked off.

Foster was the offender there, but, after a scrappy second period, he made amends, curling a shot into the top corner to give Bafana Bafana the lead late on.