Away strike gives Downs advantage
Gabuza puts SuperSport in the lead but Sundowns level matters within minutes through Sirino
The cup tie ended in a draw, but Mamelodi Sundowns came away with the advantage after their 1-1 stalemate with SuperSport United on Sunday.
The MTN8‚ first-leg semifinal at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville was an enteraining affair that kept the good crowd of mostly Sundowns fans on the edge of their seats throughout.
Sundowns have the advantage because of the away goal scored by attacking midfielder Gaston Sirino who equalised shortly after Thamsanqa Gabuza gave United the lead in the first half.
They will meet in another Tshwane derby in the second leg on September 18, with Sundowns hosting United where a winner must be produced to see who will make it to the final.
Coaches Kaitano Tembo (United) and Pitso Mosimane (Sundowns) will rue the fact that their players missed numerous scoring chances in this match that increased in entertainment value in the second half.
For the home side‚ Tembo will be satisfied with the impressive performance of midfielder Sipho Mbule who gave experienced campaigner Hlompho Kekana a torrid time in the middle of the park.
There was also a notable performance from their scorer Gabuza, who is getting his career back on track at United after a long and unsuccessful spell with Orlando Pirates.
For Sundowns‚ Sirino and Lebohang Maboe put in commendable shifts, but it was new recruit Sammy Seabi‚ who continued to grow in stature in the midfield‚ while Mosa Lebusa was rock solid in the heart of the defence with Wayne Arendse.
Sundowns settled first and forced United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to stretch full length to parry Sibusiso Vilakazi’s close-range header to safety after the Brazilians put together a good attacking move.
United reacted with an immediate counterattack that ended with Bradley Grobler narrowly missing the target after they caught the Sundowns defence napping.
United opened the scoring five minutes before half-time through Gabuza when he headed home a cross from Onismor Bhasera to give Denis Onyango no chance. Their lead lasted for a few minutes as Sundowns drew level from the thunderous boot of Sirino after he benefited from a poor clearance by the United defence.
Minutes after the break‚ Onyango produced a diving save to tip the ball over the crossbar and deny a goal-bound effort by Bongani Khumalo.
Sundowns responded shortly afterwards with an incisive attack and it took a goal-line clearance from Evans Rusike to thwart a shot by Mosa Lebusa after the United defence failed to clear the danger.
There were a few notable moments in the closing stages when Tembo and Mosimane made a number of changes but deadlock remained.