Cape Town City edged out Bidvest Wits 1-0 in the MTN8 Cup semi-final first-leg encounter in the Mother City on Sunday.

The Clever Boys are scheduled to host the Citizens at the Bidvest Stadium in the second-leg match in two weeks time.

The Citizens should have taken an early lead after Sibusiso Masina ran into the Clever Boys box, but he failed to make a meaningful touch.

At the other end, City goalkeeper Shu-Aib Walters was called into action and he produced a great save to deny Wits midfielder Thabang Monare.

The towering shot-stopper had to be alert in the 39th minute and he did well to gather Wits forward Frank Gabadinho Mhango's effort from inside the City box.

Wits were made to rue those two chances as Ayanda Patosi beat Wits keeper Moeneeb Josephs from close range to make it 1-0 to City in the 44th minute.

City were 1-0 up at the interval after the Wits defence was punished by Patosi, who pounced after the visitors' had failed to clear the ball away.

Wits dominated the second-half and they came very close to scoring in the 65th minute when Daine Klate forced Walters into a good save.

Kobamelo Kodisang, who was introduced in the 59th minute by Wits coach Gavin Hunt, was keeping the City defence very busy with his good runs.

The attacker beat City defender Edmilson Dove in the 80th minute, but he fired wide of the target without troubling Walters with time running out for Wits.

Walters then denied Wits defender S'fiso Hlanti in stoppage time - ensuring that the match ended in a 1-0 victory to City on the day.

City (1) 1 (Patosi 44')
Wits (0) 0

City: Walters, Fielies, Johannes, Mkhize, Seedat, Putsche, Nodada, Masina (Modise 70'), Patosi (Dove 74), Lakay, Majoro (Koapeng 84').

Wits: Josephs, Frosler, Hlatshwayo, Damjanovic, Hlanti, Scott, Klate (Pule 78'), Monare (Kodisang 59'), Claasen, Mhango (Pienaar 46'), Gamal.

Cape Town City and Bidvest Wits will meet in the semifinals of the MTN8 for the second successive season, with their first leg clash set for Cape Town Stadium on 27 August 2017, kick-off at 15h30.

CTC booked their place in the last four with a narrow 1-0 win over Polokwane City. Sibusiso Mbonani scored an unfortunate own goal to leave Rise and Shine feeling they were unlucky to lose, but in truth Benni McCarthy’s debut win as a coach should have been secured with a greater margin, given the chances his side created.

By contrast, Wits had to fight back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw with Golden Arrows, before edging the KwaZulu-Natal team on post-match penalties. It was a fraught match for the defending champions, who had debutant Slavko Damjanovic sent off (one of six red cards dished out) but saw striker James Keene score two goals to become the tournament’s early leading marksman.

As mentioned above, City and Wits met in last season’s MTN8 semifinals - their only cup clashes to date. The Clever Boys claimed a 3-0 home win in the first leg (courtesy of goals from Eleazar Rodgers, Elias Pelembe and Frank Mhango) before playing out a goalless stalemate in the return to secure comfortable progression into the final.

Gavin Hunt’s side didn’t have things their own way in the teams’ league clashes, however, with City winning 3-2 in Johannesburg in the first half of the season, before the clubs played out a 1-1 draw in the return game in the ‘Mother City’. By the end of the campaign, Wits finished as champions, two places and five points clear of the Citizens.

The teams clashed again just last week, meeting at the Bidvest Stadium on the opening weekend of the new 2017/18 Absa Premiership season. City claimed a surprise 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Lehlohonolo Majoro, meaning that the teams’ five meetings across all competitions have produced two wins for the Cape side, one for Wits and two draws.