SOWETO – George Lebese bagged a late brace to give Kaizer Chiefs a 2-0 win over SuperSport United this weekend and a South African FA Cup semi-finals slot.
The title-holders will be joined in the Monday draw by arch-rivals Orlando Pirates, Wits University and Maritzburg United.
Pirates edged Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1, Wits overcame 10-man Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 and Maritzburg scored twice in extra time for a 3-1 win over second-tier African Warriors.
Chiefs defeated SuperSport 1-0 in the final last season to complete a league-cup double and their latest clash seemed destined for extra time at Soccer City stadium in Soweto.
But Lebese had other ideas, putting Chiefs ahead on 90 minutes and sealing victory with another close-range shot four minutes into stoppage time.
The first goal was scored with his right foot and the second with his left – a rare feat in a country where footballers rely almost exclusively on their ‘strong’ foot.
Victory was a welcome boost for the Soweto side after two league losses within five days saw them surrender a long-held first place on the table to Sundowns.
“Much of the match was dour and we lacked the quality to break SuperSport down,” admitted Chiefs’ English coach Stuart Baxter.
After seven consecutive league victories, Sundowns came unstuck at home in another Pretoria-versus-Soweto showdown.
Oupa Manyisa converted an early penalty for the Buccaneers and Mozambican Elias ‘Domingues’ Pelembe equalised midway through the opening half.
The winner came just past the hour when a Daine Klate free-kick eluded everyone in a packed penalty area, including Sundowns’ Zambian goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene.
Having surprisingly lost the Top 8 and League Cup finals to Platinum Stars this season, no team is more desperate to lift a trophy than Pirates.
“It was difficult to lift the players after back-to-back league defeats,” admitted Pirates’ Serb coach Vladimir Vermezovic, “but we deserved the win.”
The Celtic-Wits tie near Bloemfontein was won and lost within a minute just before half-time as the hosts had a player red-carded and the visitors snatched the winner.
Alfred Ndengane was dismissed for a last-defender foul and Jabulani Shongwe side-footed the resulting edge-of-box free-kick into the net.
Leading South African Cup scorer this season Musa Nyatama had raised his tally to five with a 24th-minute goal for Celtic, but Sibusiso Vilakazi levelled a minute later.
“We made it difficult for ourselves as we should have scored four or five goals by half-time,” said Wits coach Gavin Hunt.
Zimbabwean Terrance Mandaza was the toast of Maritzburg, scoring twice within three minutes during extra time to see off hosts Warriors in central town Phuthaditjhaba. – Nampa-AFP
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