The Nedbank Cup quarterfinals will be played this coming weekend with the significant carrot of a last-four place on offer for the teams.
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Three of the remaining sides are from outside of the DStv Premiership and they will hope to continue their fairytale runs beyond this round, while defending champions Marumo Gallants also remain in contention.
SuperSport.com provides a statistical guide to the quarterfinal clashes.
TTM VS SUPERSPORT UNITED
Friday, 8 April – Thohoyandou Stadium
SuperSport United’s proud record of never having lost to lower league opponents will be tested again when they face second-tier TTM, having already seen off GladAfrica Championship side Platinum City Rovers in the last round.
It will be a first-ever meeting between the sides, as it should be remembered this is not the same TTM who lifted the trophy last year – that is Marumo Gallants.
TTM have improved in recent weeks, having been stuck near the foot of the table and already ousted topflight opponents this season when they beat Lamontville Golden Arrows on penalties in the last 32.
Quite remarkably, all 12 of SuperSport’s previous Nedbank Cup matches have been away from home … and they have been drawn on the road again.
In fact, they have not played at home in the competition since a 2-0 semifinal victory over Baroka FC in 2016. The odds of that happening are incredible. Two of the matches were played as finals at neutral venues, both of which they won.
TTM have two players in their squad who have been part of Nedbank Cup-winning sides in the past – defender Diamond Thopola was a winner with ‘the other’ TTM last season, before making the switch to the new version of the club for this campaign.
Lucky Setelele was part of the TS Galaxy squad that lifted the trophy in 2019, stunning Kaizer Chiefs in the final, though he was not part of the matchday 18 on that occasion, having played in the earlier rounds.
Of the eight remaining teams in the competition, SuperSport have had the best success rate at this stage, winning five of their previous six visits to the quarterfinals (83 per cent).
Their only blemish came in 2014 when they lost 0-2 to Kaizer Chiefs, who they would go on to beat via penalties in 2017 to gain some revenge.
There is every chance the tie will go to penalties. SuperSport won their first five shoot-outs in the Nedbank Cup since 2008, defeating Batau FC (2012), Moroka Swallows (2013), University of Pretoria (2016), Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United (both 2017).
But that incredible run came to an end when they were beaten by Bloemfontein Celtic in the first round in 2018, which was also their last shoot-out.
TTM’s only shootout in the Nedbank Cup came in the last 32 as they defeated Golden Arrows 7-6 in a thriller after the teams had played to a 1-1 draw.
MARUMO GALLANTS VS BAROKA FC
Saturday, 9 April – Peter Mokaba Stadium
This is the third time in a row that Marumo Gallants have been drawn at home in this season’s competition, and also the third time that Baroka have been the away side.
But technically, they will not be on the road as they share the Peter Mokaba Stadium with Gallants, and so will be on familiar ground, merely sent to use the away dressing room.
These teams have already played twice in the league this season as Gallants ran out handsome 3-0 ‘home’ winners last month, but the reverse fixture back in August was won 2-0 by Bakgaga.
Gallants, playing as TTM, won their home clash last season 1-0 to go with a 0-0 draw, meaning they edge the head-to-head 2-1 from the four games played between the sides.
Baroka FC have won 75 per cent of their Nedbank Cup quarterfinals, beating Kaizer Chiefs in 2011 when they famously reached the semifinals as a third-tier club in one of the more remarkable stories in Nedbank Cup history. But their only loss was also against Chiefs, a 1-0 defeat in 2018.
They have also defeated Polokwane City (2-0, 2016) and Black Leopards (1-0, 2020), and will be seeking to make it a Limpopo hat-trick against Gallants.
Gallants have won the only other quarterfinal fixture they played, which was a 2-0 success against Leopards last season.
Gallants coach Dan Malesela has a remarkable record in the competition, having lost outright just three of the 20 Nedbank Cup games he has taken charge of, all with perhaps would be considered unfancied sides.
He has coached in three semifinals, and missed out on the chance to make it four when he left Chippa United having guided the team to that stage in 2021.
He has taken United FC, Chippa (twice) and second tier TS Galaxy to the semis, remarkably going on to lift the trophy with the latter when they stunned Chiefs in the final. Malesela has never lost a Nedbank Cup quarterfinal.
Baroka’s only away victory in their last 15 outings on the road in all competitions came in the Nedbank Cup. They defeated Stellenbosch FC 1-0 in the last 32, before needing penalties to oust TS Galaxy in the last 16.
Gallants have only lost one Nedbank Cup game in the nine that they have played to date. That came with a last-16 loss to Chippa United in 2019. Since then they are unbeaten in their last seven (W4 D3), and have also won all three penalty shootouts they have played in the competition.
Baroka have a 50 per cent record in shootouts. They took Leopards to penalties in the semifinals of the 2011 Nedbank Cup, but ended up losing 3-1 as their fairytale run in the competition came to an end.
They beat Hungry Lions in 2020 and lost to Cape Town All Stars in 2021, but levelled up the score from spot-kicks with a 5-3 success over TS Galaxy in the last 16 this year.
MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS SUMMERFIELD DYNAMOS
Saturday, 9 April – Loftus Stadium
Mamelodi Sundowns have been drawn against an ABC Motsepe League side for the second round in a row, but this time come up against an old foe in the opposite camp.
Sundowns easily dispatched Mathaithai 6-0 in the last 16 – having beaten second-tier leaders Richards Bay 4-0 in the first round – and will expect another easy win against the KwaZulu-Natal third-tier outfit.
But the latter are led by Clinton Larsen, who has a decent record against Sundowns while in charge of Bloemfontein Celtic and Lamontville Golden Arrows, managing a number of wins, including a 5-0 success over Pitso Mosimane’s Brazilians while in charge of Phunya Sele Sele.
That is the heaviest defeat of Mosimane’s coaching career, but not Larsen’s only tale of glory against The Brazilians. He is unbeaten against Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup.
He has met them twice before and bundled them out of the competition in the last 16 with Lamontville Golden Arrows in 2017 and then in the last 32 with Chippa United in 2019.
He also led Celtic to the Telkom Knockout title in 2012 when they defeated Sundowns in the final.
But Sundowns are unbeaten in their last 11 Nedbank Cup games, a record for the competition, and it would be among the biggest shocks in the history of South Africa’s FA Cup were they to lose.
Sundowns have won 70 per cent of their Nedbank Cup quarterfinals, having reached this stage on 10 occasions since 2008. Four of those fixtures have been against Orlando Pirates, where they have won two and lost two. Their only other defeat was to Platinum Stars in a surprise 2-1 reversal in 2013.
No player has scored more goals in the Nedbank Cup since the start of the 2020 competition than Sundowns forward Peter Shalulile, who is also closing in on the all-time record.
The Namibia international has eight goals in his last eight games in the competition for Highlands Park and Sundowns, a remarkable run that leaves him three short of the all-time record set by former Brazilian Hlompho Kekana.
Shalulile also holds the distinction of having never lost a Nedbank Cup game in which he has scored.
Sundowns have two wins and two defeats in their four shootouts in the past. They beat Kaizer Chiefs in the last 16 in 2008 but lost to AmaZulu in the semifinals two years later.
They then survived a scare in the final against Ajax Cape Town when they won 4-3 on penalties, with Ajax’s Abbubaker Mobara missing a spot-kick to win it for his side. They did not have another one until the semifinals last year when they were beaten by eventual champions TTM in a major shock in the semifinals.
ROYAL AM VS UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
Sunday, 10 April – Chatsworth Stadium
Royal AM will be delighted with a home draw given how dominant they have been on their own patch this season versus a sometimes sketchy record on the road.
They are unbeaten at the Chatsworth Stadium in 12 matches (W10 D2) and have made their home into a fortress.
GladAfrica Championship side AmaTuks have already beaten top-flight opponents in the first round when they disposed of Chippa United 2-0, and then edged fellow second-tier side Venda Football Academy in the last 16.
AmaTuks have not won an away Nedbank Cup game outright since a 3-1 victory at Dynamos in 2011. Since then, they have played six games on the road, with two draws and four defeats. Both of those draws ended 3-3. They then lost on penalties to SuperSport United in 2016 but claimed victory via spot-kicks in the last round against Venda.
Royal AM and AmaTuks met in the league last season and both games were won by the KwaZulu-Natal side, another omen that does not bode well for the visitors.
AmaTuks were beaten finalists in the competition in 2009, losing 1-0 to Moroka Swallows while they campaigned in the second tier. But this is their first Nedbank Cup quarterfinal since 2010. They beat Bloemfontein Celtic in 2009 but lost to AmaZulu the following year.
AmaTuks have a 50 per cent record in penalty shootouts in the competition, defeating Jomo Cosmos in their first one in 2010, but then losing in the first round to Maritzburg United via spot-kicks in 2013.
They did not have another one for nine years before they needed penalties to edge Venda in the last 16 this season. Royal AM have yet to be involved in a shootout.
The previous record for the most lower league teams in the Nedbank Cup semifinals is two, when Black Leopards and AmaTuks in 2009, Baroka and Leopards appeared in 2011.
Given this is the last of the quarterfinal games, they could help break that mark with victory, though it would also have required Summerfield Dynamos and TTM to have won their ties.