Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns are through to the last four of the MTN8 after their victories on Saturday.
Sundowns scraped through with a hard-fought 1-0 win over a stubborn Moroka Swallows at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville, while Pirates cruised past Sekhukhune and walloped them 5-0 at the Orlando Stadium.
Downs won the match via a solid strike by captain Themba “Mshishi” Zwane in the second half, while the Bucs were inspired by a Zakhele Lepasa hattrick.
In the first quarterfinal, the game which was expected to produce fireworks, simply because Swallows coach Steve Komphela and midfield hardman Andile Jali were playing against their former club for the first time since they left the Brazilians.
However, the match was a damp squib after Jali was red-carded as early as the seventh after a brutal and career-ending tackle on Teboho Mokoena.
This almost ended the match as a contest for the Dube Birds but Steve Komphela’s players fought hard with 10-men for most of the match.
While credit goes to Swallows for their resilience, Sundowns are still far from convincing, and they will have notch up better performances as the season goes.
Elsewhere in Soweto, Pirates massacred Sekhukhune United and the Buccaneers are enroute to defending the MTN8 title they won last season.
It was an opportunity for Sekhukhune to avenge the defeat they suffered at the hands of Bucs in the final of the Nedbank Cup last season, but it was not to be as Jose Riveiro’s side ran riot.
Red-hot Lepasa opened the scoring for Pirates in the 22nd minute and sent an early warning to Ba Bina Noko. Sekhukhune got a penalty in the second half Chibuike Ohizu missed the spot kick.
Pirates then went for the throat and a rat-a-tat spell saw Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo and Monnapule Saleng increasing the lead to three nil. Lepasa was not finished and he grabbed his hattrick, rounding off a wonderful performance.
On Sunday, Kaizer Chiefs will face Cape Town City in the Mother City while SuperSport United will host Stellenbosch FC. The winners will join Bucs and Sundowns in the last four draw.
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