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Cape Town - Bidvest Wits will look to make the most of their slight advantage heading into the second leg of their MTN8 semifinal against Ajax Cape Town.
Wits scored late in the
first leg through Henrico Botes to claim a 1-1 draw at the Coetzenburg Stadium
on August 15, a result which sees them with their noses ahead thanks to an away
goal.
Should Gavin Hunt’s side keep a clean sheet, they will be sure of progressing to the Top Eight final for the first time since famously beating Kaizer Chiefs to claim the trophy in 1995.
As for Ajax, who opened the scoring in their home leg through Toriq Losper, they need to fight back and find the back of the net early to put the hosts under pressure.
The Urban Warriors still boast an unbeaten record in cup matches between the teams, with the sequence now reading two wins for the Cape side and two draws (one of which went to penalties and was won by Ajax) from four matches.
The Clever Boys will look for a repeat of their home result against Ajax from the first round of league matches earlier this month: the Johannesburg side claimed a 2-1 home victory thanks to goals from Sibusiso Vilakazi and Elias Pelembe, while the visitors’ consolation goal was scored by Abbubaker Mobara.
The Urban Warriors have not beaten Wits in Johannesburg since the 2009/10 season, but a score draw of 2-2 or more will be enough to see them progress on away goals.
The teams both come into the match on the back of home league victories in midweek: Wits defeated Maritzburg United 2-0 thanks to strikes from Kris Bright (on debut) and Vilakazi, while Ajax edged Free State Stars 2-1 with goals from Mosa Lebusa and Prince Nxumalo.
The teams will meet for the return match of their last-four tie at Bidvest Stadium on Sunday, August 30.
Kick-off at 15:00.
