Those who watched the first game of this year’s edition of the Telkom Knockout between Cape Town City and Bloemfontein Celtic jumped for joy when the referee blew the final whistle.
An excruciating match to watch despite City claiming a 2-0 victory, with both goals coming in extra-time for coach Eric Tinkler’s men to secure a quarter-final place.
Cup football continues this weekend and, while there has to be a winner on the day, we at least hope there’s a goal feast.
Free State Stars v Bidvest Wits
(Goble Park, today, 3pm)
It’s a fifth meeting in about a year between the two sides and Stars have the upper hand, having beaten the Clever Boys twice - those victories coming in the same competition last season as well as the Nedbank Cup - and playing to goalless draws in the other games.
Gavin Hunt, the Wits coach, has already spoken about his concern in the build-up to today’s encounter, his biggest concern being the fact that his men were never able to score in all four previous matches.
This is an incredibly difficult match to predict, but Wits are a much-improved side this time around and are fresh off an MTN8 Cup win, where they beat high-flying Mamelodi Sundowns 3-0 in Nelspruit earlier this month.
They will face a Stars team that managed to bring back Giovanni Solinas after he quit at the end of the last campaign citing personal reasons.
But not even the Italian’s ability to organise a less-fancied team can hide the fact that Ea Lla Koto have lost a lot of good players.
Prediction: Wits will break the hoodoo.
SuperSport United
v Ajax Cape Town
(Lucas Moripe Stadium, tonight, 8.15pm)
No PSL coach is more desperate to get a victory under his belt than Roger de Sa at the moment.
A five-match winless streak can get you sacked in top-flight football - just ask Allan Freese, who was officially shown the door at Highlands Park on Tuesday following just a single victory in the same number of games.
The league rookies weren’t having it, but De Sa has been able to hold on to his job even though the Urban Warriors have been on a slippery slope since winning the MTN8 over a year ago.
Coincidentally, Freese was fired two days after SuperSport thumped Highlands Park 4-1 in a Premier League match. Stuart Baxter, the man at the helm at SuperSport, will surely want to build from that emphatic win.
Prediction: SuperSport will prove too much for Ajax.
Kaizer Chiefs v
Maritzburg United
(FNB Stadium, tonight, 8.15pm)
Steve Komphela must keep winning or risk giving his detractors a voice.
The Chiefs coach has silenced a large number of his critics by winning four matches in a row, results which have helped Amakhosi to the summit of the Premier League table.
With Amakhosi having already missed out on an early season trophy in the MTN8, the only positive outcome here is a victory.
But Maritzburg will be no pushovers as they look to end their poor record at Soccer City.
Prediction: Chiefs will continue their dominance over the Team of Choice.
Orlando Pirates
v Golden Arrows
(Orlando Stadium, Sunday, 3pm)
Muhsin Ertugral, the Buccaneers' coach, has come under heavy criticism for his team's style of play that isn’t easy on the eye. The thing is, club supporters would care less if Pirates were winning.
But last weekend Ertugral’s men left it late to grab a point away to Polokwane City in a league match, extending their winless streak to three games, which have all ended in draws.
Arrows are joint top of the PSL table and will be a tricky side despite the fact that Pirates hammered them 3-1 when they met in a league match in August.
Prediction: Pirates to scrape through.
Saturday Star