On Friday night, the Brazilians secured their place in the next round after a late goal by Jayden Adams against Sekhukhune United. Earlier in the week, Adams had also found the back of the net in Bafana Bafana’s 2-0 win over Benin in Ivory Coast.

Sundowns will face Kaizer Chiefs in the semi-finals, while the other clash will see back-to-back defending champions Orlando Pirates take on Marumo Gallants of Bloemfontein.

Arthur Sales. Photo: X

Although Masandawana dominated possession from the start, with Babina Noko poised to strike on the counter-attack, both teams struggled to create clear-cut chances in the opening exchanges.

Ronwen Williams was called into action in the 37th minute, with the Sundowns goalkeeper denying Keletso Makgalwa. At the other end, Grant Kekana’s header was saved by keeper Renaldo Leaner on the stroke of half-time, leaving the quarter-final deadlocked at 0-0 at the break.

Sundowns continued to control the match after the restart, but Sekhukhune remained rock-solid in defence. Coach Miguel Cardoso decided to introduce the feared attacking duo of Lucas Ribeiro Costa from Brazil and Peter Shalulile from Namibia in the 68th minute to add more firepower.

Ribeiro threatened the goal in the 78th minute, while Kekana came close with a header in the 87th. Leaner then pulled off another crucial save to deny Ribeiro in stoppage time, forcing the match into extra time after a goalless 90 minutes.

With extra time seemingly destined to end in a stalemate, up stepped rising Bafana Bafana star Jayden Adams. The youngster netted his third goal in as many matches for club and country in the 119th minute, sealing a hard-fought 1-0 victory for Sundowns over Sekhukhune.

The PSL has yet to confirm the dates and kick-off times for the Nedbank Cup semi-finals.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg