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Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town dramatically claimed a place in the final of the 2015 Nedbank Cup with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over SuperSport United at Athlone Stadium on Saturday.
Late strikes from Mosa Lebusa and Tashreeq Morris – the latter’s deep into injury time – saw them cancel out Thuso Phala’s opener in the first half that seemed set to win the game for Matsatsantsa.
Both sides took a while to get their passing game going in the first half, but it was United who settled the quicker of the two teams and looked the likelier scorers throughout the opening 45 minutes.
They should have broken the deadlock in the 15th minute when Kingston Nkhatha played a good pull-back from the by-line to pick out strike partner Jeremy Brockie, but the New Zealander’s effort was blocked at close range by goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola.
The Tshwane side eventually and deservedly took the lead in the 39th minute through Thuso Phala, who raced onto a great through-ball from David Mathebula before squeezing a shot under the advancing ‘keeper.
The former Platinum Stars winger should have doubled the visitors’ advantage on the stroke of half time when some poor defending saw him gifted with a clear sight of goal, but he skewed his shot wide of the near post.
Ajax started the second half strongly and coach Roger De Sa freshened up his attack by introducing both Tashreeq Morris and Keagan Dolly off the bench, while Matsatsantsa put on Dove Wome in place of Kingston Nkhatha, who appeared to have picked up a knock.
The home side kept plugging away in attack and were finally rewarded five minutes before the end of regulation time. Their third and final substitute, Franklin Cale, stabbed a great pass through for Mosa Lebusa, who finished clinically to level the game at 1-1.
The match looked destined for an extra half hour, but three minutes into injury time Nazeer Allie swung in a cross from the right and Morris powered home a header to win the match for the Cape side and put them into the final.
Ajax will face either Mamelodi Sundowns or Vasco Da Gama in the final next month. The pair meet in the second semi on Sunday afternoon.
Ajax Cape Town (0) 2 (Lebusa 85’, Morris 90+3’)
SuperSport United (1) 1 (Phala 39’)
Ajax: Jaakkola, Allie, Coetzee, Mobara, Lebusa, Mzwakali (Dolly 61’), Graham (Morris 58’), Norodien (Cale 73’), Scott, E. Isaacs, Paulse
SuperSport: Williams, Daniels, Diouf, Mkhabela, Chapman (Grobler 90+6’), Khumalo, Mathebula, Phala, Klate (Manyama 76’), Nkhatha (Wome 52’), Brockie
