Maritzburg, United square up in TKO
Maritzburg United will look to make their home ground advantage count when they take on SuperSport United at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Friday night at 8pm. Catch the game live on SuperSport 4 and live streaming on supersport.com
The two sides have never met in a cup game before, however, SuperSport have had the upper hand over the Kwazulu-Natal side in their previous league meetings.
Both teams needed penalty shootouts to get to this stage of the competition with Maritzburg beating edging Moroka Swallows after the match had ended goalless after extra time.
SuperSport United on the other hand were deadlocked at 1-1 with Ajax Cape Town before they held their nerves to win 4-3 on penalties.
The Team of Choice demonstrated their fighting spirit in their last league outing when they came back from behind to hold log-leaders Kaizer Chiefs to a 1-1 draw.
However, defender Mario Booysen knows that it will take a lot of effort to get past his former club.
“It’s going to be a tough game, SuperSport are a really good team,” said Booysen.” “They have the same quality as Kaizer Chiefs.
“They are through to the next round, so they obviously have ambitions to do well in the Cup, just like we do.
“They have a lot of quality right through the squad. There are many dangerous players in SuperSport’s team.
“I don’t like to single out individuals, but guys like Kermit Erasmus, Mabhuti Khenyeza and Sameehg Doutie can be really dangerous.
“To get a result we are going to have to be rally focused and at our best on Friday night.”
Meanwhile, SuperSport will be looking to improve their conversion rate following their 1-1 league draw against Bidvest Wits, a game that coach Gavin Hunt feels they should have won.
“We create more chances than any team in the league. I just think we create so many chances, and don’t score from them,” said Hunt.
“The final ball lets us down, that’s what we’ve got to try and work on.”
Regarding their visit to Pietermaritzburg, Hunt said they will focus on improving their own game and not worry too much about their opponents.
“It’s a game of football and we’ll worry about it when we play,” he said.
“They’re a tough side, physically strong, well organised and disciplined. So, we’ll have to deal with that when we get there.
“We just want to win a game of football, that’s all we try to do.”
SuperSport will be without Franklin Cale and Mor Diouf who both received their marching orders during the game against Wits.
Last season Supersport thrashed Maritzburg 7-0 in Tshwane, but the return leg in Pietermaritzburg ended in a 0-0 draw.
