Former Kaizer Chiefs defender and striker Patrick Mayo says the club and their rivals Orlando Pirates are lucky to find themselves in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup.
The two Soweto giants will face each other in the last four stages of the cup competition while in the second semis minnows Stellenbosch FC and Sekhukhune United.
While Pirates needed penalty shoot-outs to beat amateur club Dondol Stars, Amakhosi needed the help of Royal AM's Thabo Matlaba's own goal to take the game to extra time.
Read | Official: Soweto giants to clash in Nedbank Cup semis
"To me, this is a good draw, from the beginning I didn't want them to meet in the final," Mayo tells KickOff.
"There was going to be more heartaches and tears in the final.
"Both of them couldn't beat their opponents within the 90 minutes, it wasn't easy for both.
"They were up against very difficult opponents, especially Pirates who scored first but found it difficult to defend their lead.
"This tells us that the gap between PSL clubs and amateur clubs is now closed. This is a good thing though because it shows the standard of football in our country is now improving.
"But anyway, a win is a win, and remember that in a cup game sometimes it doesn't matter how the win came, as long as you are through to the next round.
"But then again as a coach Arthur [Zwane] will need to fix his mistakes, they shouldn't have allowed Royal AM to score first.
"Against other teams, they could have found it difficult to get an equaliser Kaizer Chiefs.
"They wouldn't have found the second goal if Matlaba didn't score the own goal. Otherwise, they were out of the competition.
"This means there could have been no extra time or a penalty if Matlaba didn't score against his own keeper.
"So, both Chiefs and Pirates were lucky.
"Anyway, I think Chiefs have an advantage going into the semi-final, they have already beaten Pirates twice this season."
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