Six red cards as SA football season kicks off
An extraordinary start to the South African season saw six players and coaches red-carded as title-holders Wits scraped into the semi-finals of a knockout competition this weekend.
The debut of Montenegrin Slavko Damjanovic for league champions Wits lasted just 22 minutes before being sent off for kicking an opponent so hard in the face he concussed him.
A second yellow card for Zimbabwean Danny Phiri of Golden Arrows on the stroke of half-time reduced both teams to 10 men in the MTN 8 quarter-final.
Constant second-half swearing led to Wits coach Gavin Hunt and Arrows coach Clinton Larsen and his assistant, Mandla Ncikazi, being sent to the grandstand.
The referee flashed his red card again during extra time to expel Siyabonga Dube of Arrows for head-butting Malawian Frank "Gabadinho" Mhango.
Amid the chaos, Wits won 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw that seemed an unlikely result midway through the first half when Arrows led 10-man Wits by two goals.
A Lerato Lamola header and a tap-in from seemingly offside Zimbabwean Kudakwashe Mahachi for the underdogs from Durban rattled Wits.
But goals in each half by England-born James Keene, the first from a penalty, brought the resilient hosts level.
The flurry of red cards and dramatic comeback overshadowed the Wits debut of 35-year-old former Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland midfielder Steven Pienaar.
Deciding to end his career in home city Johannesburg, Pienaar sat on the bench for 84 minutes as he is not fully fit after missing several weeks of pre-season training.
He showed touches of class and struck an unstoppable penalty in the shootout, suggesting he will be a valuable addition to the "Clever Boys".
Benni McCarthy, a 2004 UEFA Champions League winner with Jose Mourinho-managed Porto, debuted as a coach by guiding Cape Town City to a 1-0 home win over Polokwane City.
The winner came gift wrapped from the visitors on 38 minutes as an intended clearing header from Sibusiso Mbonani flew past his goalkeeper, Zimbabwean George Chigova.
New Zealander Jeremy Brockie scored after only six minutes to give South African FA Cup title-holders SuperSport United a 1-0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in Durban.
Maritzburg United shocked CAF Champions League title-holders Mamelodi Sundowns with a 1-0 away triumph in Pretoria through a second-half goal from Zimbabwean Evans Rusike.
Cape Town meet Wits and SuperSport face Maritzburg in the two-leg semi-finals of a competition offering a winners-take-all eight million rand ($595,000/500,000 euros) prize.
The top eight finishers in the previous league season qualify for the MTN 8.