Platinum City Rovers will be out to claim the scalp of SuperSport United when the teams meet in a Nedbank Cup last 16 match at the Profert Olen Park on Saturday night.
* Get DStv or Showmax Pro to watch all the action live.
Kick-off is at 6pm CAT (SA, GMT+2).
Rovers, who play their football in the second-tier GladAfrica Championship, have already eliminated one DStv Premiership club in the shape of Sekhukhune United.
They held Babino Noko 1-1 at the same venue in Potchefstroom in mid-February – with a last-gasp equaliser from Simphiwe Ndlovu cancelling out Yusuf Maart’s early strike for Babino Noko – to send the game to extra time, before ousting the top-flight club 3-2 on penalties.
“We started so badly, conceding very early from a counterattack. The boys showed character because we managed to come back to eventually win it,” said Rovers assistant coach Tesco Macheke. “It will be a different game [against SuperSport], but we will use the same spirit and try to win.”
Rovers, though, come into the clash on the back of a 2-0 home loss at the hands of another Tshwane team, Pretoria University, in the GAC this past weekend.
SuperSport, meanwhile, took out Maritzburg United in the previous round of the Nedbank Cup, winning 1-0 away from home thanks to a sublime late strike from Iqraam Rayners.
Matsatsantsa, who are five-time winners of this competition (most recently in 2017), have since suffered league defeats to Maritzburg and Royal AM, though they bounced back to form this past weekend with a 2-0 home victory over AmaZulu.
“We needed it more. We showed that from the word go,” said United coach Kaitano Tembo. “We scored from the few chances that we created. I was quite happy with the attitude of the players and we deserved the results.”
He added, “We still need to improve in terms of our decision making in the final third. If that happens, we will score more goals.”
In head-to-head terms, this will be the first competitive meeting of Platinum City Rovers and SuperSport United.
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH
Platinum City Rovers
Thabiso Nkoana: A former SuperSport player (who won the Nedbank Cup with Matsatsantsa in 2012), Nkoana will be hoping to hurt his old side and lead Platinum City Rovers into the quarterfinals for the first time.
Simphiwe Ndlovu: Scorer of City’s goal in the previous round against Sekhukhune, Ndlovu will hope to make another impressive impact against top-flight opposition when SuperSport come to Potchefstroom on Saturday.
SuperSport United
Jesse Donn:The young midfielder has come on in leaps and bounds recently, now even adding goals to his game after netting in clashes against Maritzburg United and AmaZulu. Donn will hope to control the engine room and steer his side to victory.
Iqraam Rayners: Rayners struck a brilliant goal for SuperSport to see them overcome Maritzburg in the previous round, and his fine recent form marks him out as a player to watch heading into this last 16 clash.