Nedbank Cup
Report: Bloemfontein Celtic 1 (5)- (4)1 SuperSport United
Date: 11 February 2018
Venue: Dr Molemela Stadium
Bloemfontein Celtic got back to winning ways after knocking out SuperSport United 5-4 on penalties, to advance in the Nedbank Cup.
In the midst of their topsy-turvy campaign, Eric Tinkler saw the need to make an alarming nine changes to his starting line-up from their last clash.
This clearly showed where they are basing their focus on this season, with their league form not too good at all.
They were put on the back foot early on, as they struggled to get into the game with the pressure being put on them by the hosts.
They almost went down after 17 minutes, but Thakasani Mbanjwa came to their rescue with a brilliant save off Tshepo Rikhotso's penalty.
Zimbabwean Onimsor Bhasera brought down Menzi Masuku inside the box, forcing Victor Gomes to point to spot.
After surrendering the relentless pressure, United struggled to trouble the hosts with young striker Darren Smith leading the attack.
It got worse when Bhasera once again committed a foul inside the box, that resulted in Gomes awarding another penalty after hacking down Masuku.
Former Orlando Pirates striker Ndumiso Mabena this time stood up and send Mbanjwa the wrong way to put the green and white in the lead.
SuperSport came out for the second half with a lot more promise and it showed as they took the game to the hosts.
The scores were level in the 58th minute courtesy of Sipho Mbule, who reacted well to Kingston Nkhatha's cross-cum shot to steer past Patrick Tignyemb.
With the rain coming down, the momentum slowed down from both teams as the game which limited the amount of goal-scoring chances.
It's a stimulus that continued in the 30 minutes of extra time, which formed the game into a penalty shootout which the hosts one 5-4, with Tignyemb converting the final one after Derwin Farmer's miss for the opponents.
Here's how they line up:
