A cold Thursday night in Port Elizabeth at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium saw Kaizer Chiefs edge out Orlando Pirates 4 – 3 in a sudden death penalty shootout to reach the final of the Vodacom Challenge.

Amakhosi will play Manchester City in the Challenge final at Loftus on Saturday at 3pm.

It was one of the most dramatic penalty shootouts between the two Soweto giants and had the 30 000-strong crowd on the edge of their seats.

Both goalkeepers, Moeneeb Josephs and Itumeleng Khune, did their best to psyche out their opponents in the shootout. Bucs paid the price by missing three and having one saved. Chiefs missed two and had one penalty saved. The winning penalty was scored by Rooi Thabang.

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Manchester City scraped past Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday night in the Vodacom Challenge match held at Durban’s Absa Stadium by beating them 1 – 0.

The only goal of the match came late in injury time of the first half, which was netted by City skipper Stephen Ireland.

City made seven changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates in Polokwane last Saturday and were given another runaround in the fast-paced opening half by a spirited Amakhosi.

City manager Mark Hughes still left out his two new strikers, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz, who are still not fully fit. But he did include his new England international midfielder Gareth Barry along with England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips and England right back Wayne Bridge.

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Manchester City manager Mark Hughes can expect another tough Vodacom Challenge clash at Durban’s Absa Stadium on Tuesday night when his star-studded side faces Kaizer Chiefs.

Hughes was speaking after his leg-weary troops were well beaten 2-0 by a lively Orlando Pirates in the opening Challenge match at a packed Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday afternoon.

Bucs’ win added to the celebrations of Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday and the tenth anniversary of the Challenge.

“I expect more of the same from Chiefs. But this is how it should be,” Hughes said.

“It was a good exercise for us playing a team like Pirates; it was tough and what I expected.

“This is the reason I was keen to come on this tour as we need this type of competition to help prepare in our pre-season.

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