Silver Strikers booked a semi-final berth against Mighty Mukuru Wanderers in the Airtel Top 8 Cup after beating Dedza 2-1 at Dedza Stadium Sunday.
The Central Bankers advanced to the semi-finals 6-2 on aggregate following a 4-1 victory at Silver Stadium a fortnight ago.
Silver and Wanderers are no strangers to each other in the competition, having met in 2017, 2019 and 2023.
However, statistics favour Silver in the competition, having eliminated Wanderers in all the previous meetings in the Airtel Top 8.
The two teams met in the inaugural Airtel Top 8 final but Silver triumphed 10-9 on post-match penalties.
Silver also beat Wanderers 2-0 on aggregate in the 2019 quarterfinals.
However, the Central Bankers progressed to the semi-finals through a boardroom decision after Wanderers lost home and away matches after Football Association of Malawi (Fam) threw out their appeal on both abandoned and boycotted matches.
Against Dedza Sunday, Silver had the luxury of resting some of their key players as they were already in the comfort zone.
It was Ibrahim Sadik who drew first blood in the 28th minute from the penalty spot after Maxwell Paipi was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box to give Dedza the lead.
Sensing danger, Silver Coach Peter Mponda introduced Chinsisi Maonga and Dan Sandukira for Duncani Nyoni and Emmanuel Muyira, respectively.
But Dedza held on for the first half’s slender lead. After the break, Charles Chipala and Zebron Kalima came on for Paul Kansungwi and Misheck Seleman. Maonga pulled Silver level from the penalty spot after Gift Magola also handed the ball.
But Chipala came back to haunt his former club when he scored in the 81st minute.
After the match, Mponda said his troops deserved the win.
“We dominated the match and created chances although we did not utilise them,” Mponda said.
Dedza Coach Andrew Bunya conceded defeat.
“It was a very tough game. We wanted to attack from the first whistle to turn the tables. We got the goal but it was unfortunate that we failed to get a second goal,” he said.
The remaining quarter-finals second leg matches will be played next month as Bullets will face Civil Service United at Civo Stadium while Kamuzu Barracks will meet Chitipa United at the same venue.
Bullets beat Civil 2-0 in the first leg whereas Chitipa defeated KB by the same margin.
The winners between Bullets and Civil will face either KB or Chitipa in the semi-finals.
The semi-finals will be played between October 26 and 27 at venues to be announced whereas the Airtel Top 8 final is scheduled for November 3.
The champions of the 2024 edition will pocket K30 million, up from K17 million, while the runners-up will get K10 million.
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