CAPE TOWN – Two pieces of individual brilliance from Terrence Mashego and Mduduzi Mdantsane helped Cape Town City power past AmaZulu 2-1 in their MTN8 quarter-final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday evening.
At the pre-match press conference, City coach Eric Tinkler was asked about whether his team may possibly still be suffering a hangover from the 5-1 defeat to AmaZulu when the two teams met last season.
Tinkler was unimpressed with the question. “If it (the 5-1 defeat) is sitting in the back of the minds, then it's there for the right reasons. It should be that the boys want to set the record straight, and that should be the objective.”
Well, City certainly set the record straight by edging out Benni McCarthy’s team at the former 2010 World Cup venue.
The dreadlocked left-back Mashego had never before scored for City since joining The Citizens from TS Galaxy at the beginning of last season, but he changed that in spectacular fashion on Sunday evening when he picked up a pass from Abbubaker Mobara on the left touchline.
Mashego pinned back his ears in an electric burst of speed that took him past three AmaZulu defenders and into the box before finishing with the coolness of a seasoned striker as he slotted the ball into the far left corner of the net.
The early goal was richly deserved after the visitors had started the match on the front foot after Thato Mokeke had provided AmaZulu goalkeeper Veli Mothwa with an early test.
The remainder of the first half was, though, a cagey affair with City prepared to protect their lead through slick inter-passing between new signing Khanyisa Mayo, Mduduzi Mdantsane and Surprise Ralani in the midfield that kept the ball away from the home team.
Coach Benni McCarthy was certainly a frustrated figure on the sidelines as AmaZulu looked a shadow of the team that had lit up the domestic scene last year with their scorching style of football.
McCarthy, who is certainly known for his hairdryer treatment at the half-time break, would not have minced his words at the interval and AmaZulu returned for the second period with much greater purpose.
But they still had some more defending to do when Mashego once again found space on the left flank but instead of going on another run he opted to find teammate Mduduzi Mdantsane inside the box on this occasion, who blasted his ball wide of the right upright.
AmaZulu were, though, beginning to string a few more passes together and were slowly starting to find their rhythm. Former City marksman Lehlohonolo Majoro, who now wears the green of AmaZulu, was equally vocal in the halftime chat as he would have been lamenting the lack of quality service from his midfielders.
Majoro could, however, not fault a delightful through ball from Luvuyo Memela but the veteran striker fired wide from inside the box that McCarthy up on his feet in anger at the missed opportunity.
McCarthy was back on his feet a few moments later, but on this occasion he was full of smiles after Majoro made up for his previous miss by calmly slotting the ball past the impressive debutant Hugo Marques in City goal.
However, it was Tinkler and his City team that were the ones smiling at the final whistle when Mdantsane showed his class with a similar run to Mashego’s in the dying stages of the game when he capitalised on an AmaZulu error by scything through the defence to produce the game’s winner with just two minutes remaining on the clock.
IOL Sport
