AmaZulu became the final side to secure a spot in the Telkom Knockout quarter-finals after defeating Cape Town City 2-0 on Tuesday evening.After a fairly lively opening, Marc Van Heerden came close to grabbing the lead for Usuthu in the 14th minute with a free-kick from 25-yards out that sailed agonisingly wide of the upright.Bonginkosi Ntuli almost got the opener for Cavin Johnson’s charges in the 23rd minute after going clear at the left side of the box, but his low strike was cleared off the line by Keanu Cupido.
The chances continued to fall in the game, as Siphelele Mthembu had an opening at goal, but Usuthu shot-stopper Siyabonga Mbatha was on hand to make the save.Both sides were creating decent chances in the half, but they were let down by their finishing which ultimately saw them head into the break goalless.Johnson’s troops started the second stanza strongly with Ntuli coming close to finding the breakthrough four minutes after the restart with a stinging half-volley that was smothered by Stephens.Argentinian Emiliano Tade finally got the breakthrough for Usuthu in the 63rd minute with a well weighted side-footed shot into the bottom corner after he was setup by Ntuli inside the box, 1-0.
Ntuli punished the Citizens four minutes later, latching onto a mistake by Kwanda Mngonyama at the back post before poking home his strike at the near post to make it 2-0.The hosts were threatening to run away with the game with a quarter of an hour remaining, finding spaces behind the City defence but they were not clinical enough to kill off the game.McCarthy’s men lacked the momentum in the closing stages, as Cavin Johnson's team hung on to claim victory and a spot in the last eight.