Orlando Pirates sail into another cup final
Deon Hotto of Orlando Pirates celebrates with his team-mates after scoring a wonder of a free-kick that left Cape Town City goakeeper Darren Keet unmoved. goal during the MTN8, semifnal against Cape Town City at the Orlando Stadium yesterday PHOTO:
Alche Greeff/Gallo Images
SPORT
In front of a near-capacity crowd at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday, Orlando Pirates made history as they became the first team to reach three consecutive MTN8 cup finals.
The Buccaneers romped to a 2-0 victory over Cape Town City to win the two-legged semi-final 3-1 on aggregate. The first leg ended 1-1 at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday.
Striker Tshegofatso Mabasa showed Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was wrong to leave him out of next week’s back-to-back qualifiers squad against Uganda and South Sudan.
Mabasa, who finished last season as the top goal scorer in the PSL with 19 goals in all competitions, headed Bucs into the lead in the 24th minute for his first goal of the season.
Deon Hotto, who has been converted from a left attacking midfielder into a left fullback, made it 2-0 with a free kick of the highest quality shortly before the half-time break.
City, who showed intent as they searched for an early goal, fizzled out shortly after Mabasa’s goal.
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The first half was a messy affair with both teams unable to keep the ball for sustained periods.
City continued to fight and bombarded the Pirates box in the second stanza. However, they lacked the passing precision they needed to break the Buccaneers’ defensive line.
Pirates coach Jose Riveiro wanted some bite in the middle as he started with Makhehlene Makhaula in place of Kabelo Dlamini, who has been playing in a midfield trio that has Thalente Mbatha and Patrick Maswanganyi.
READ: Coach Broos mum on who will captain Bafana in Williams and Tau's absence
With Kamohelo Mokotjo, Jaedin Rhodes and Darwin González in City’s midfield, the battle was always going to be as fierce as it was.
Riveiro, who has won four of the five PSL trophies in the two years he has been at Pirates, now stands a good chance of winning three MTN8 titles in succession.
After the international break, Pirates will switch their focus to the CAF Champions League’s last preliminary round before the group stages.
The Buccaneers will play two their home and away clashes against Botswana side Jwaneng Galaxy in two weeks’ time, where the winner will advance to the group stages.
Pirates will play either Mamelodi Sundowns or Stellenbosch in the Wafa Wafa final.
