Mamelodi Sundowns booked their place in the semi-finals of the MTN8 with a 1-0 win over Polokwane City at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In a game that marked the kick-off for both sides in the 2024/25 season, it was a beautiful day of clear skies in Atteridgeville with two attack-minded line-ups put out.
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Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos and his assistant Helman Mkhelele were spotted in the stands ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers squad announcement, while new Sundowns assistant coach Romain Folz was present too as he awaits his work permit.
And while Sundowns talked the talk of wanting to play a more fluid attacking game in a 4-3-3 with more chances created, they failed to capatalise on their dominance with only three of their 11 attempts on target in the opening half that finished goalless.
Veteran goalkeeper Denis Onyango who was standing in for the injured Ronwen Williams was reduced to a mere spectator for most of the half with City looking to benefit from the off-counter attack.
In-demand winger Oswin Appollis was brought off the bench in the second half and nearly made an immediate impact, but after he beat Onyango to a 50/50 outside of his area, his effort landed safely into the possession of Terrence Mashego.
It was no surprise as the game ventured towards extra-time but there was a bit of drama before the end of regulation time with Onyango handling the ball outside the area and receiving a red card after Sundowns had used three stoppages for substitutes.
Mosa Lebusa was then forced into goals for the final ten minutes and managed to keep the game goalless heading into extra-time, before Jody February was allowed to be introduced.
And Sundowns managed to scrape through when Thabang Matuludi steered the ball into his own net beyond Manuel Sapunga which was enough to send Sundowns into the next round.
