Baroka dump City out of TKO
Baroka produced a shock 1-0 victory to dump Champions Cape Town City out the last-16 of the Telkom Knock Out at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Victor Obinna of Cape Town City FC challenged by Mathari Mothupa and Letladi Madubanya of Baroka during the 2017 Telkom Knockout football match between Baroka and Cape Town City at Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane on 29 October 2017 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Spurred on by their league form this season that’s sees Baroka sit at the summit of the Premiership table, the home side came into the tie as slight favorites.
However, the quality players within the squad of Benni McCarthy’s Cape Town City side would have been looking for a reaction after three straight defeats.
The reigning Telkom Knock Out Champions suffered a cruel penalty shoot-out loss in the MTN8 final and have been suffering from a lack of consistency with McCarthy’s rotation policy in recent weeks.
However, the manner in which they toiled against Bakgaga will have worried their head coach, with poor first-touches in the area and a lack of incisiveness around the box.
A cracking effort in the 15th minute from Zimbabwean midfielder Talent Chawapiwa proved to be the only goal of the game, as the early strike set the tone for the home side to contain the Citizens.
Under manager Kgoloko Thobejane the men from Polokwane have continued to defy the odds, with a Leicester City like fairytale story – after narrowly avoiding relegation via the play-offs last season.
Baroka will now face Premiership Champions Bidvest Wits in the quarter-final stage of the competition.
