Cape Town City walked away with all three points at the Peter Mokaba Stadium following their 1-0 win over Sekhukhune United in the DStv Premiership on Saturday evening.
Sekhukhune United started the game on a positive note and held most of the ball with around five minutes on the clock. The visiting side were left to guard their quarters, as the Babina Noko players stroked the ball around in the middle of the park.
After 10 minutes played, the Citizens managed to carve out a couple of goalscoring opportunities, which were well dealt with by Sekhukhune United.
With no real action being produced at each goal end before the 20-minute mark, the game produced a number of physical duels in midfield.
City began seeing more of the ball as the tie progressed and looked to capitalise on Babina Noko’s mistakes with quick transitions. However, the travelling outfit struggled to infiltrate the Sekhukhune box.
Victor Letsoalo provided the best chance for Sekhukhune in the first half, after latching onto a dangerous ball that was swung into the area. His shot forced Darren Keet into making a point-blank save, while his rebounded effort struck the crossbar. That said, the referee called time on the first 45 with the scoreline level at 0-0.
Sekhukhune looked confident on the ball at the start of the second half, especially in building out from the back. Cardoso and Gyimah combined well at the heart of the Babina Noko backline and sprayed the ball around with ease.
The hosts attempted to penetrate Cape Town City’s defence in wide areas of the pitch, however, the Western Cape side remained alert to the danger.
While Sekhukhune progressed high up the pitch, City made the most of a counter-attacking move in the 60th minute and subsequently broke the deadlock. In picking up the ball just outside the Sekhukhune box, Thabo Nodada gave City the lead with a venomous shot from range.
With 20 minutes to go, both teams made various attacking substitutions in an attempt to affect the rhythm of the tie. As a result, Sekhukhune cranked up the pressure and took control of the game and played most of their football in the opposition half.
City kicked into game management mode during the dying embers of the encounter as Babina Noko relentlessly pursued an equaliser. However, it was not to be for the home team as City bagged maximum points at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Sekhukhune United 0
Cape Town City (0) 1 (Nodada 61’)
Sekhukhune: Sangare, Zulu (Masiya 86’), Gyimah, Cardoso, Mobbie, Mahlangu (Kabwe 57’), Mashikinya, Seabi (Shai 86’), Letsoalo, Mncube (Mokwana 71’), Ohizu (Morris 69’)
City: Keet, Fielies, Gordinho, Cupido (Mokeke 53’), van Heerden, Ambina, Nodada, Goedeman (Mdantsane 70’), Gonzalez (Mayo 70’), Mani, Rhodes (Bender 78’)