Gauteng giants Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates avoided each other in the MTN8 semi-final after they were drawn against Stellenbosch and Cape Town City, respectively.
Sundowns will host Stellies in the first leg of the first semi-final, while Pirates will be away to the Citizens in the first leg of the second semi-final. The two semi-finals will each be played over two legs – home and away – while the venues and dates for all four matches are yet to be confirmed by the PSL.
Meanwhile, back-to-back champions Pirates were the first team to reach the last four as they beat SuperSport United 3-1 at home a fortnight ago. And while Pirates will be the team to beat in the competition, Stellies also made their intention of going all the way in the competition known as they beat TS Galaxy 3-1 at home.
The first two quarter-finals seemed to have robbed the other games of goals as both Sundowns and City won by one-goal margins (1-0) against Sekhukhune United and Polokwane City over the weekend.
Sundowns, though, made things difficult for themselves yesterday as they dominated the match from start to finish, only failing to be clinical in front of goal.
The Brazilians should have wrapped up the match in the first half, but they needed an extra-time own goal from Thabang Matuludi to march to the next round of the competition.
Coach Manqoba Mngqithi, who was taking charge of his first match as the Sundowns head coach, said they made things hard for themselves especially after goalie Denis Onyango got a red card.
“I was concerned when we missed opportunities, “Mngqithi said on SuperSport, after the game.
“I was happy with the number of chances that we created. I was happy with how much time we spent in the opposition’s box.
“It is important that the game mustn’t be played in our half, but in the opposition’s box. So, we did that.”