Bafana Bafana defeated Morocco 2-1 in their final Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the FNB Stadium on Saturday evening.
South Africa coach handed a debut to Bathusi Aubaas and re-called Themba Zwane following their last match against Liberia, while Achraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri picked out the Atlas Lions line-up.
Bafana stunned the North Africans on six minutes after a cross from Percy Tau following a short-corner proved too much for goalkeeper Munir El Kajoui and rolled in the net.
Hugo Broos' men nearly extended their lead six minutes later with a first-time shot in the area by Zwane off a cutback by Thapelo Morena, but El Kajoui repelled with a neat save.
Morocco began to find rhythm after a few moments and worked the first save off Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams through a rasping shot on the edge of the area by Youssef Maleh.
With the match evenly balanced, the Atlas Lions were forced to make a change five minutes to halftime after Noussair Mazraoui picked up an injury and was replaced by Anass Zaroury.
Bafana missed a golden chance to go two goals up three minutes later when Zakhele Lepasa burst clear from a stray pass, but the striker failed to beat El Kajoui.
Lepasa would make amends two minutes after halftime when the Orlando Pirates striker feed off cagey bit of defending from their counterparts and tapped in.
It was the host that enjoyed the complete ascendancy thereafter and kept the Atlas Lions extremely guessing specifically aided by the off-the-ball runs of Tau and Zwane.
However, the Atlas Lions proved their class with 60 minutes played as a loss of concentration at the back allowed Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech to take aim and apply a solid finish.
Bafana did have a chance to settle the contest later on through a clear opening for Teboho Mokoena, but the midfielder uncharacteristically missed.
The missed opportunity didn't matter as the host managed to ensure victory as well as top spot of Group K ahead of the Atlas Lions.
Confirmed line-ups:
South Africa: Williams, Morena, Xulu, Mvala, Maela, Mokoena, Aubaas, Zwane, Mayambela, Tau, Lepasa
Subs: Goss, Mothwa, Mobbie, Hlongwane, Saleng, Mailula, Blom, Le Roux, Kekana
Morocco: El Kajoui, Hakimi, Mazraoui, Aguerd, Saiss, Maleh, Louza, Ziyech, Aboukhlal, El Idrissi, En-Nesyri
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