Supersport United lift Nedbank Cup

28 May 2012

SuperSport United lifted the Nedbank Cup after a 2-0 victory over Pretoria neighbours and rivals Mamelodi Sundowns at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.

Although they finished two points above Sundowns in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), in third place, SuperSport United had entered the final as the underdog. They proved that thinking wrong as they earned coach Gavin Hunt his first knockout trophy after he had previously led the club to three PSL titles.

‘We played very well’

“We played very well today, especially in the first half,” Hunt said after the game.

“I’ve always said we’ve got huge heart and determination. In all we deserved victory today.”

It was the first time the two Pretoria clubs had met in a cup final and Sundowns looked comfortable enough early on, but that changed quickly as SuperSport United took the game to the Brazilians.

Sandilands tested

In the eighth minute, Matsatsantsa tested Sundowns’ goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands when Thabiso Nkoana cut in from the right flank and fired a left-footed shot on goal.

Sandilands got down low to fist the ball away, but Nkoana pounced on the rebound and found Sibusiso Zuma at the far post with a superb cross. Reacting superbly, Sandilands flew out to cut down the angle and blocked the shot that looked likely to give United the lead.

In the 18th minute SuperSport striker Kermit Erasmus was brought down from behind mere centimetres outside the Sundowns’ box by a clumsy challenge from Clayton Daniels.

Red card

After the medics had attended to Erasmus, referee Gabriel Sekopo pulled Daniels to one side and showed him a red card, showing that in his opinion Daniels had fouled Erasmus deliberately when he was through on goal.

The free kick, from right out in front of the goal, was fired goalwards left footed by Tebogo Langerman, but it skimmed off the goalkeeper’s right hand post and went behind for a goal kick.

Five minutes from the break, SuperSport finally broke the deadlock from a corner on the left.

Supersport lead

As the ball was kicked, Thabo September spun out from the clutching hands of a defender and cut back around towards the far post. He gained a metre on two defenders and the ball from Sahmeeg Doutie fell between the two Sundowns’ men at September’s feet. He steered it over the line from five metres out to put United into the lead.

Early in the second half, Teko Modise made a nice run deep into SuperSport’s territory before bringing the ball back inside onto his right foot. His toe-poked shot, however, was way off the mark and flew high over the United goal.

Two-nil

With an hour played, Zuma found Erasmus in space on the left after a good ball across from the right. Sandilands was off his line in a flash to deny the striker’s left-footed shot, but the ball rebounded slightly infield and Erasmus struck it with a beautiful right-footed volley into the back of the net with Sandilands stranded. That made it SuperSport United 2, Mamelodi Sundowns 0.

Hunt’s charges had an excellent opportunity to go three goals clear less than 10 minutes later when Zuma received the ball in acres of space on the left. He tried to curl the ball around the left of the goalkeeper, but his shot was a little high and passed over the top of the Sundowns’ goal.

Four minutes of additional time was added on and during that time the Brazilians had an opportunity to reduce the deficit when they were awarded a free kick inside the Matsatsantsa goal box. As if to underline that it was not Sundowns’ day, Nyasha Mushekwe blasted the ball wildly over the top of the goals and SuperSport United went on to a deserved 2-0 victory.