PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 19: Benni McCarthy (Coach) of Cape Town City FC during the Absa Premiership match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City FC at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on December 19, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Nedbank Cup quarterfinals: Cape Town City v Mamelodi Sundowns – Head to head, kick off and live stream
The coaches have had a bit of a war of words leading up to this crucial encounter, but the winner will be determined on the field of play.
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 19: Benni McCarthy (Coach) of Cape Town City FC during the Absa Premiership match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City FC at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on December 19, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
The big clash of the weekend features Cape Town City, who are home to Mamelodi Sundowns in a Nedbank Cup quarterfinal fixture at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
Having fell on the first hurdle of their CAF Confederations Cup campaign, Benni McCarthy’s men will seek redemption as they look to clinch their first piece of silverware this season, and their second overall having triumph in the Telkom Knockout in their first year in the top flight.
Their path to the quarterfinals has been rather challenging, having only dealt with the cream of the crop in PSL champions Bidvest Wits, who they queezed past, winning 1-0 in a rain-soaked Johannesburg, as well as Orlando Pirates, who they knocked out with an identical scoreline in similar conditions, in Cape Town this time around.
In contrast, Pitso Mosimane’s charges have had a far easier path – on paper – as they survived an early scare after going behind to ABC Motsepe League side, EC Bees, eventually winning 2-1. This after making hard work of seeing off first division outfit, Cape Town All Stars – triumphing 1-0.
The build-up to the big game has not been without its fair share of mind games, with both men at the helm trading verbal blows in the media.
Mosimane was the first to instigate the war of words, attributing his opponents’ success to that of Mpumalanga Black Aces, the club which was effectively dissolved in order to form Cape Town City.
McCarthy hit back, saying the Sundowns mentor is also feeding off the success of those who were there before him.
“… but I think Sundowns was successful before Pitso was there – Johan Neeskens, I’m just saying. But it’s all good, it’s part of football,” he said.
Head to head
Sunday’s clash is the first cup meeting between the two sides and, in the league, they have met four times with City winning the first three before Sundowns won their most recent encounter.
Kick off
The game kicks off at 15:30.
TV and live stream
It will be broadcast live on Supersport 4 (SS4), with the build-up starting at 15:00.
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