Veteran goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene was elated after saving four penalties and scoring one as Mamelodi Sundowns claimed victory against rivals Kaizer Chiefs in their MTN8 quarter-final at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday.
The two Premier Soccer League giants could not be separated as the scores were deadlocked at 2-2 in regular time and thirty minutes of extra-time was not enough either.
A penalty shootout eventually prevailed and 36-year-old Mweene's experience came to good use in the high-pressure moments.
"Look, I think it was a very tight game you know, we scored two and we could have done better when it comes to defending but that didn't bring us down, we kept on pushing," Mweene told SuperSport TV.
"It's the first game of the season, it was not going to be perfect everything, you could see that it was taking its toll on us, but we kept on pushing because we know at the end of the day if we don't score, let's try on penalties and thank God I had to save four penalties.
"Otherwise, it's something we're looking at... this trophy... since I've been at Sundowns it's either we've gone [out] first round or second round, so well done to the guys, I know it was not easy, Chiefs is not an easy team, we soldier on," he said.
Mweene then shocked viewers by taking one of the penalties himself and with ease slotting it beyond Itumeleng Khune.
"It's my secret that one (scoring penalties)," he quipped.
"There were a lot of new players and a lot of youngsters, some of us had to take charge as senior players to take the pressure out of the younger ones and the new ones.
"I was relaxed it's one of the things I do at training."
While the feat of four penalty saves and one scored is remarkable, debatable match officiating was once again brought to the fore.
Mweene was clearly off the goalline for one or two of the penalties that he saved as pictured below:
You've been asking for the pictures of Kennedy Mweene's four penalty saves, here they are ??#MTN8 pic.twitter.com/zFhSw1746V
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) August 15, 2021
Meanwhile, Lyle Lakay's penalty also crossed the goalline despite Khune's effort in saving it, as seen in the video below:
Here's Itumeleng Khune's penalty save in the shootout that everyone's talking about, with the ball having crossed the line, which ultimately led to a red card for Sundowns coach Wendell Robinson.#MTN8 pic.twitter.com/uSonnSKGZG
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) August 15, 2021
Mweene revealed that he told Khune that the ball did cross the goalline despite the Chiefs goalkeeper insisting that it did not.
"No, he took it from the net, I was even telling him, 'Wait until you watch [the replay], then you'll see what I'm talking about', because he put his hand inside the net not on the line, no," Mweene said.
Sundowns will take on Golden Arrows in the semi-finals, while Swallows FC meet Cape Town City.