Jali sees red as Sundowns march into MTN8 semis

Andile Jali was sent off for Moroka Swallows as Mamelodi Sundowns moved into the semifinals of the MTN8 Cup in an ill-tempered quarterfinals between the two teams at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.

Themba Zwane scored the only goal of the match to send his team to the last four of a competition they last won two years ago.

All eyes were on Jali as he came up against his former team and emotions got the better of him six minutes into the game.

A dangerous tackle on Teboho Mokoena saw him being sent for an early shower. The one-man advantage had the Dube Birds pegged in their own half for most of the opening 45 minutes.

Both benches got into a heated exchange following the red card. The experienced Jali was booed off by Downs fans as he slowly made the lonely walk back to the change room.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, who was in attendance, would have been happy to see Mokoena shake off the knock on his ankle to carry on playing after being stretchered off.

Swallows did well to keep the scoreline goalless heading into the break. For all their ball possession, Sundowns found it difficult  to break the low block employed by Komphela.

Shalulile dropped

Peter Shalulile’s predatory instincts were missed. He was relegated to the bench after a below par performance against Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday. The Namibian was one of tthree changes made by the Sundowns technical team from the last game.

It didn’t take long for the home team to take the lead after the restart. Themba Zwane hit the back of the net after being sent through by Lucas Ribeiro three minutes into the second half.

The defending league champions failed to make use of the lion’s share of possession but a solitary goal was ultimately enough to progress to the next round.