Veteran goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene came to Mamelodi Sundowns' rescue against rivals Kaizer Chiefs as their MTN8 quarter-final encounter went to a penalty shootout on Sunday.
The 36-year-old saved four penalties to give the Brazilians a dramatic 2-1 penalty shootout victory at the Lucas Moripe Stadium as they advanced to the next round of the competition.
Sundowns and Chiefs played to a 2-2 draw in regular time before the match went to extra time, which was not enough to separate the two Premier Soccer League giants.
Seeking to end a 14-year MTN8 drought, Sundowns took less than 10 minutes to take the lead.
Lyle Lakay delivered an inch-perfect cross that was met by the head of 2020/21 Footballer of the Season, Peter Shalulile.
Three minutes later, Amakhosi's defence was again in no man's land as Lakay whipped in another teasing cross that Shalulile headed inches wide.
Sundowns' link-up play from midfield to their attack caused more damage just after the 20-minute mark.
Rivaldo Coetzee steered forward from a central position and passed the ball towards Mothobi Mvala, who split Chiefs' defence with a through ball for Themba Zwane.
The Bafana Bafana attacking midfielder hit the ball with a vicious strike against the post and into the net to give Downs a 2-0 lead.
Masandawana continued to probe and came close to adding a third.
A Mvala shot was mishandled by Itumeleng Khune, who attempted to catch the ball instead of punching it away. Luckily for the veteran shot-stopper, the ball went over the crossbar.
Chiefs then found themselves in more danger, with no less than eight of their players attempting to shield Khune's goal in the penalty area.
However, failure to clear the ball eventually found Lakay's left foot, and from almost 30 yards out, he too hit the post.
Chiefs did claim an all-important goal before half-time to keep the match interesting.
Bernard Parker took flight beyond a yellow shirt and reduced the deficit with a headed goal, courtesy of a Njabulo Blom assist.
The goal gave Amakhosi great impetus moving forward, and they were chasing to level matters, but the half-time whistle came to Sundowns' rescue.
However, the equaliser eventually came as Chiefs' marquee signing Keagan Dolly made an immediate impact coming off the bench in the second stanza.
His through ball found Billiat, and the Zimbabwean forward netted his first goal against his former employees since he left Chloorkop in 2018.
Despite chances from both sides to snatch victory at the tail-end of the second half, the match went to extra-time and then to penalties.
Sundowns will either meet Golden Arrows, Swallows FC, AmaZulu or Cape Town City in the MTN8 semi-finals.