Jayden Adams came off the bench to give Mamelodi Sundowns the only goal that lifted them above hard-fighting Sekhukhune United in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final game staged at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium on Friday night.
Obviously it was going to be a tough game for either team since it was the third time they were meeting in the ongoing campaign across all competitions. The Brazilians had won the initial encounters that were in the Premier Soccer League.
Having reached the final last season before falling to the defending champions Orlando Pirates, Masandawana were optimistic about beating Babina Noko and advancing to the last four of the annual competition.
However, they were not going to get it easy against a determined Sekhukhune team that was under a new coach Eric Tinkler, who took over from former Buccaneers midfielder Lehlohonolo Seema.
The first-half story
The visitors gave as much as they received in the first half, hoping to get a goal and destabilize the favorites. Babina Noko had a massive chance in the ninth minute when Keletso Makgalwa played a beautiful ball in the area, but the unmarked Chibuike Ohizu failed to hit the target from six yards.
The Brazilians had their chance in the 24th minute when Iqraam Rayners did well to beat the defenders; however, his cross found no one in the central area giving Shaune Mogaila enough time to put the ball out for an unfruitful corner.
After Saile saved another danger from Makgalwa again, in the 37th minute, Sundowns could have scored in the 44th minute, but goalkeeper Renaldo Leaner – who was making his first appearance this season for the club, did well to deny Kekana.
The Leaner show
Tresor Yamba thought he had finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute after Sundowns failed to clear their lines, but the assistant referee correctly ruled it out for offside.
Leaner was then called to action two minutes later to deny Matias Esquivel, who was through on goal. The custodian had to save his team again in the 62nd minute when he denied Rayners from just a few yards before standing again to ensure Sales didn't convert the rebound.
In the 83rd minute, Sales missed the best and most open chance of the game. He was slipped in by Ribeiro but he went for power, ending up missing the target by a fine margin. Then, Leaner had to be alert four minutes later to deny Kekana, once again, after failure by defenders to clear a corner.
The biggest blunder from the officials happened in the added minutes when Ribeiro beat his markers before squaring the ball to Peter Shalulile. The Namibia international tapped the ball home, only for the assistant referee to wrongfully adjudge him to be in an offside position.
Sundowns remained the better team even after the break, but Babina Noko looked determined to frustrate them. With two minutes remaining to go to penalties, Marcelo Allende got into a promising position before passing to Mudau. The right-back worked his way in but his shot came off the woodwork.
However, Jayden Adams was there to guide the rebound on target to heartbreak Sekhukhune fans and send his team to the semi-final.
Masandawana will now play Kaizer Chiefs hoping to beat them for a fourth time across all competitions,
