Dondol Stars, dumped Amazulu out of the Nedbank Cup in an entertaining match played at FNB Stadium.
Midway through the first half Gabadinho Mhango was denied by the post when his shot rattled the upright.
Usuthu took the lead early in the second half when Pule Ekstein placed the ball into the back of the net after a great inter-passing move between Mhango and Larry Bwalya.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Revaldo Fox made it 1-1 from a corner kick and took the game to extra time.
But Usuthu finished extra time with 10-men after Keagan Buchanan received a second yellow card for a foul.
In the penalty shootouts, Mhango missed the first spot kick and the home side converted all five penalties to progress to the quarterfinals.
“Before the game I hoped and I prayed that our boys would come to the party and they did and that is we wanted from them,” co-coach Khuliso Rashamuse told Supersport after the match.
“After playing for 90 minutes, myself and Vini [co-coach] encouraged them and told them that we didn’t have anything to lose. We told them to go the extra mile and that was the difference between winning and losing the match. They came to the party, they danced, they enjoyed and had fun.
“Penalties are lotteries and anything can happen. And the football gods were on our side. We managed to score and our goalkeeper [Sphamandla Gumede] did well – that was a championship winning performance from him. We wanted it the most and that is where we won.
“This is a great achievement for the team and the chairman of the team has been through a lot over the past few season and this will bring joy into his life and heart. We want to remain humble and respectful and focus on the league because if we get promoted, we go to the Motsepe Foundation Championship our lives will change.”
By Zola Doda