Sunday’s action in the Nedbank Cup served up the first dramatic penalty shoot-out of the 2023 campaign as Royal AM edged past Cape Town City following their entertaining goalless draw in the Mother City.
City will be kicking themselves having had numerous opportunities to claim the win in the 120 minutes, though they may also point to some bad luck having hit the woodwork on three occasions.
Royal AM goalkeeper Hugo Nyame proved the hero in the shoot-out as he saved from Lorenzo Gordinho and Khanyisa Mayo to send the Durban club into Thursday’s Last 16 draw.
Two other topflight sides through on Sunday were AmaZulu and TS Galaxy, though not without a fight.
Usuthu edged Northern Cape third-tier side Tornado FC 3-2 having looked comfortable with a three goal lead before the minnows came surging back into the contest late on.
Michael Gumede, Gabadinho Mhango and Bongi Ntuli had the 2010 Nedbank Cup finalists in the driving seat, but there were late flutters in their camp when Mario Katz and Kenneth Dupane pulled goals back for the ABC Motsepe League side to set up a nervous final 10 minutes.
The 2019 winners TS Galaxy also faced third-tier opposition in the form for Amavarara from the Eastern Cape and they too were made to work hard for their 2-0 win. Sphiwe Mahlangu and Masilake Phohlongo both scored just before halftime.
It was a much more routine victory for second-tier Casric Stars as they beat Mkhambathi from the division below them 4-0 to book a Last 16 place. In-form forward Kgomotso Mosadi scored a brace and in doing so took his tally for the season to 14 in all competitions. No player has scored more in South Africa’s top-two tiers.
Mumuni Abubakar and Siyabonga Nkosi got the other goals for Stars as they transferred their impressive league form into the cup.
There is still one final Last 32 match to be played on Tuesday as Motsepe Foundation Championship leaders Polokwane City host 2021 Nedbank Cup finalists Chippa United at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium (kick-off 19h30).
There are so far 10 teams from the DStv Premiership through to the Last 16, including the so-called ‘Big Three’ in Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
Three clubs from the second-tier have advanced – Cape Town Spurs, Venda Football Academy and Casric Stars – while there are also two teams from the ABC Motsepe League in the form of Mpheni Home Defenders and Dondol Stars, who provided us with the biggest shock so far in this year’s competition when they ousted SuperSport United.
There have been a very healthy 48 goals scored in the 15 Last 32 matches to date, an average of over three per game in what has been a hugely entertaining round so far.
