Orlando Pirates secured a 1-0 victory over Cape Town City in the 2020 MTN8 quarter-final match at Orlando Stadium on Saturday night.
The only goal of the encounter was netted by Terrence Dzvukamanja in the first-half and it was enough to send the Buccaneers to the semi-finals.
Bucs were keen to start the new 2020/21 season with a win against their hoodoo team, City, who were undefeated in their last six competitive games against the Soweto giants.
Josef Zinnbauer's side had also succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to the Citizens in the last meeting between the two teams which was a PSL encounter two months ago.
Coach Zinnbauer included four new signings in the starting line-up with Thulani Hlatshwayo, Wayde Jooste, Deon Hotto and Terrence Dzvukamanja all making their Pirates debuts.
Hlatshwayo was handed the captain's armband as the club skipper Happy Jele was surprisingly named amongst the substitutes by German tactician Zinnbauer.
On the other hand, coach Jan Olde Riekerink kept faith with the players, who did the job for the team last season as the Citizens secured a top-eight finish in the league.
Fagrie Lakay spearheaded City's attack, while former Pirates defender Abbubaker Mibara started in defence and new signing Terrence Mashego was named among the substitutes.
Zinnbauer's decision to throw Jooste and Dzvukamanja into the deep end paid off as the duo combined well to hand Pirates the lead 23 minutes into the match.
Jooste whipped in a quality cross into the box with his weaker foot and Dzvukamanja headed home to make it 1-0 to the nine-time MTN8 champions as the Zimbabwe international marked his Bucs debut with a goal.
City then suffered a blow as Lakay was sent off after making a reckless challenge on Jooste and the visitors were reduced to 10 players a few minutes after the half-hour mark.
The Citizens launched attacks despite being numerically disadvantaged, but Hlatshwayo was solid at the heart of the defence as he made crucial challenges and clearances and the score was 1-0 to Pirates at the interval.
Riekerink introduced Tashreeq Morris, who is a striker by trade, prior to the start of the second half as the visitors looked to restore parity.
However, the 2018 MTN8 champions struggled to create goalscoring opportunities and they were left vulnerable at the back whenever they pushed forward and Bucs were dangerous on the counter.
Peter Leeuwenburgh was the busier of the two goalkeepers as he produced two fine saves to deny Frank Mhango and Vincent Pule as the Buccaneers searched for their second goal of the match.
The Dutch keeper then pulled off two wonderful saves to deny Zakhele Lepasa and Lerato Dlamini in the closing stages of the match, and ultimately, Pirates ran out 1-0 winners over City on the night.
The victory saw Pirates advance to the MTN8 semi-finals for the first time since 2014, while City bowed out of the lucrative tournament.
