Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy was beaming after his team’s convincing 2-0 Nedbank Cup win over SuperSport United on Saturday.
In a replay of last year’s MTN8 final, City got one over their cup rivals again at Cape Town Stadium and book themselves a place in the last 16 of South Africa’s premier cup competition.
It could have been a lot more convincing for the in-form hosts, who dominated from start to finish as midfield duo Thato Mokeke and man of the match Teko Modise stamped their authority on the game.
The opening goal came in the 35th minute when Mokeke thumped home Ayanda Patosi’s accurate corner delivery - the effort couldn’t be kept out by United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
Then 10 minutes after the break, skipper Thami Mkhize was played in by a bit of Patosi magic - his backheel in the box inviting the right back to shoot and the shot took a deflection before flying into the net.
There were chances for Matthew Rusike and Craig Martin as Modise’s passing found the holes in the defence.
And a proud Benni says: “It started off a little difficult because they looked organised and pressed us high. But I told the boys that they must remember their training.
“Once we played out of the tight spaces, we started playing. Got the ball into Teko and Thato and that’s when we found our rhythm.
“And then it was just a matter of time to see if they could cope with the pace of Gift Links and Craig Martin and get it in behind because Matthew [Rusike] is very mobile. We did that well.
“And we are good at set-pieces. I’m happy Thato got one over his old team. He has slotted in well.”
City has started off the year in great form, scoring 10 goals in four matches and Benni believes his manne are finding their killer instinct.
He adds: “Anyone that saw the game, after 20 minutes, you knew there was only going to be one winner.
“I won’t that say that I was disappointed that we didn’t get three of four but we looked capable of doing that.”