Cape Town — Sekhukhune United, 2-1 victors, won the “Battle of the Uniteds” against Chippa United in the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday.
With the win, Sekhukhune will join Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC in the semi-final round. It’s first time that Sekhukhune have reached the Nedbank Cup semis.
No sooner had spectators taken their seats when Elias Mokwana, playing out on the right wing alongside Nigerian Chibuike Ohizu and Victor Letsoalo in Sekhukhune’s three-prong attack, opened the scoring in the first minute.
Straight from the kick-off, Sekhukhune worked the ball down the right flank before crossing the ball into the opposition goalmouth where Chippa failed to deal with the danger.
Two passes later in the Chippa penalty box, Mokwana showed great composure by slipping the ball wide of Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali for a goal, exactly 44 seconds after referee Thando Ndzandzeka blew the opening whistle.
Six minutes later, Chippa suffered another setback when their midfielder Khanyisile Mayo went down with an injury which ended his participation in the match. He was replaced by Ronaldo Maarman who was impressive soon after joining the fray.
While Sekhukhune were looking to build on their early lead with a high-press, Chippa relied on counter-attacks to keep up their challenge. A Chippa transition in the 17th minute laid the platform for the equaliser after Sekhukhune conceded a corner and Nigerian Etiosa Ighodaro headed home from the set-piece.
Just ahead of the halftime break another Nigerian, this time Sekhukhune’s Ohizu, intervened with a header to regain the lead for the visitors from Tembisa, after excellent work out wide by winger Letsoalo. Chippa's scrappy defence were unable to cut off Letsoalo’s goalmouth feed and the unmarked Ohizu produced an acrobatic dive to head the ball into the roof of the net.
On the balance of play, Sekhukhune deserved the slender lead after they showed greater intensity in the opening half. Chippa showed a measure of commitment, but their defensive lapses may have cast the die in the opening 45 minutes.
In the second half, Sekhukhune’s incredibly low defensive block was inviting trouble as they allowed Chippa several free runs into the opposition’s half. Sekhukhune dealt with the danger admirably to ensure their lead remained intact.
Just ahead of the hour mark, Sekhukhune missed a golden opportunity to increase their lead but Ohizu’s attempt from range was fractionally wide of the target.
As the game wound to its close, Sekhukhune continued to “park the bus” and Chippa were left with a puzzle of trying to find a breakthrough.
Late in the match, Sekhukhune’s pressure saw them come desperately close to scoring a goal after Chippa ran out of resolve to break down the opposition’s defence.
The defeat meant that new Chippa coach Siyabulela Gwambi started his tenure with a defeat. It is a result that won’t sit well with his trigger-happy boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi.
IOL Sport