Cape Town - Dondol Stars held their nerve as they shocked AmaZulu 5-4 on post-match penalties and knocked them out of the Nedbank Cup at the FNB stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Tshwane-based side took their second DStv premiership scalp having dispatched SuperSport United in the last 32 of the competition and now qualify for the quarter-finals.
Pule Ekstein broke the Stars' resilience early on in the second, breaking the deadlock and scoring his first goal since joining Usuthu.
The skilful midfielder was played through on goal by Rally Bwalya and he did well to compose himself and slotted his effort into the bottom corner in the 54th minute.
Not long after and the visitors drew themselves level as they capitalised off poor AmaZulu marking during a corner in the 60th minute
Revaldo Fox was quickest to react after his initial header had been saved by Jody February in goals, the defender poked in his second attempt through the legs of the keeper, setting the match up for a potential upset.
Dondol Stars have knocked AmaZulu out of the #NedbankCup 😲 pic.twitter.com/JOjrH3NElb
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) March 8, 2023
The less-fancied Gauteng-based Stars had gathered a few supporters after their brave, expansive and attractive showing against SuperSport, raising the expectations for a possible upset.
Usuthu Head Coach Romain Folz made several changes to his usual starting 11 with Jody February, Mbongeni Gumede, Dumisani Zuma and Bonginkosi Ntuli all grabbing unfamiliar starts.
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The changes made by the travellers seemed to hamper their rhythm as they struggled to grab a stranglehold of the game despite facing third-tier opposition.
Ironically enough, the few chances AmaZulu were able to conjure up in the first stanza were poorly missed by Ekstein.
The two teams could not be separated in both quality and tenacity with the minnows Stars standing their ground, doing enough to take AmaZulu deep into extra time.
The frustration of not being able to put away Stars seemed to grow with every minute for AmaZulu and it tipped over when second-half substitute Keagan Buchanan received his marching orders deep into extra time, needing Usuthu to finish the game with ten men.
@ScribeSmiso