Pirates book third consecutive MTN8 final appearance after eliminating CT City
Orlando Pirates booked their third consecutive MTN8 final appearance after eliminating Cape Town City with a 3-1 aggregate scoreline.
Ezimnyama Ngenkani held an away goal advantage from the first leg, which ended in a 1-1 draw in Cape Town. They defeated Erick Tinkler’s troops 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at Orlando Stadium, with Deon Hotto and Tshegofatso Mabasa scoring the goals.
Pirates will learn their next opponents on Sunday when Mamelodi Sundowns visit Stellenbosch FC in the second leg at Moses Mabhida Stadium at 3 PM.
In the first ten minutes, it was the visitors who appeared to exert more dominance over the home side, maintaining possession predominantly in the opposing half.
Similar to the latter part of the first leg, ‘The Buccaneers’ faced challenges in the midfield, as Kamohelo Mokotjo and Fortune Makaringe possessed more of the ball and denied Pirates space to play.
In the 16th minute, Sipho Chaine made a spectacular save, denying Prins Tjiueza who unleashed a solid shot after receiving a long pass from Keanu Cupido.
PIRATES’ TWO GOALS AHEAD OF HALF-TIME IN MTN8 SEMIS SECOND LEG
In the 25th minute, Pirates unexpectedly scored the opening goal through Tshegofatso Mabasa, who rose unmarked to head the ball into the net from a cross by Relebohile Mofokeng.
After taking the lead, ‘The Sea Robbers’ began to have more attacking opportunities, aiming to double their advantage while ‘The Citizens’ continued to drive forward seeking an away goal.
Deon Hotto doubled the lead just three minutes before halftime, curling in a free kick from a distance to beat Darren Keet, who was left helpless as the ball sailed past him. Pirates went to the break leading 2-0.
In the second half, Erick Tinkler made two changes bringing on Amadou Soukouna and and Lorenzo Gordinho for Mokotjo and former Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Haashim Domingo.
In the 52nd minute, Keet made another impressive save to deny Mabasa’s thunderous shot from close range. The striker had been set up by an opponent Gordinho, but the former Bidvest Wits goalkeeper parried the ball away, preventing Mabasa from bagging a brace.
A few minutes later, Mofokeng had a golden opportunity to extend the home side’s lead to three when he dribbled past the goalkeeper. However, he missed an open net, hitting the side netting as the City defense applied pressure.
Riveiro later introduced Miguel Timm and Gilberto as pulled out Thalente Mbatha and Mofokeng.
In the last 15 minutes of the match, the Mother City-based outfit had a few moments in the final third but still couldn’t find a breakthrough. At times, Chaine made a couple of saves to keep a clean-sheet on the day.
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