New Zealander Andre de Jong scored an extra-time winner as Stellenbosch FC beat AmaZulu 2-1 at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban to advance to the next round of the Carling Knockout Cup on Friday.
De Jong created the first and scored the second, while skipper Sage Stephens was at his best as the reigning cup champions secured the all-important win.
The game started slowly, but the visitors started to assert themselves as they looked for the opener. It was in the 25th minute when Devin Titus put the reigning Cup champions 1-0 up.
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The 23-year-old Titus, who has been tipped with a national team call up, opened the scoring when he put the ball in Richard Ofori’s net following a nice reverse pass from the right hand side by New Zealander de Jong.
While chances were few and far between in the first half, Steve Barker was the happier of the two coaches as his charges were the more dangerous team.
The men from the Cape Winelands kept the ball well, and when they lost it, they recovered it quickly, with De Jong ever present in their forays into the Usuthu box.
The home side came out in the second half with intent, and were rewarded when Tshepang Moremi slotted the ball past Stellies skipper Sage Stephens after a brilliant through pass by Wayde Jooste.
It was AmaZulu’s first shot on target in the whole game, and Stephens was visibly annoyed with his defence.
That goal seemed to spark something in AmaZulu as they started to dominate the game as they looked to end Stellenbosch’s reign in the competition.
However, neither side was able to win the game in 90 minutes, and the game went into extra time.
Steve Barker does it again 💪
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) October 18, 2024
The defending champions are through to the quarter-finals of the #CarlingKnockout ⚽🍇 pic.twitter.com/IgkfvUbXYI
Not long into extra time, Stellenbosch were back in front through De Jong, who nodded a crossed ball ball by Sanele Barns past Richard Ofori, who had been having a good game.
De Jongh could have made it 3-1, but the assistant referee’s flag went up and he was judged to have been in an offside position when he put the ball in the net. Video replays, however, suggested the New Zealander was onside.
But, there would be no heartbreak caused by the officials this time as the men from the Western Cape held on to their 2-1 lead until the end.
IOL Sport