Orlando Pirates scraped through to the Nedbank Cup semifinals following a dramatic triumph over SuperSport United in a marathon quarter-final encounter at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
In a tense tussle between two of the competition’s most successful teams, the Buccaneers not only had to survive a 120-minute wrestling match, but also the lottery of a penalty shootout. They scraped through eventually, ensuring their third consecutive appearance in the last four with their title defence surviving yet another day.
While the result in the end was the desired outcome for the visitors, things did not really kick off as intended. They were forced to contend with a shot towards their goal just seconds from kick-off. It came off the boot of Gamphani Lungu, who brought out the best of Sipho Chaine, with the Bucs keeper pulling off an excellent reflex save.
The subsequent period proved to be a frustrating toil for Pirates, who had the lion’s share as far as possession was concerned without making any real inroads inside the attacking third. Relebohile Mofokeng and Mohau Nkota both had half-chances with neither capitalising while United winger Enoch Quaicoe misfired with his chance at the other end.
It was left for another Bucs academy product to deliver a game-changing blow, which came a minute before the half-hour mark. Mbekezile Mbokazi was the player with the decisive touch as he found himself inside the box following a set piece before finding the top corner with a powerful left-footed shot.
Evidence Makgopa and Deon Hotto both misfired in their attempts to double the lead, while Mofokeng managed to send his shot on target with United goalkeeper Ricardo Goss keeping it out with a fine save to his left. An error at the opposite side of the pitch allowed the home side in for an equaliser, and former Bucs forward Terrence Dzvukamanja needed no second invitation as he pounced to make it 1-1 moments before the break.
That appeared to be the goal to send the two sides into the break with nothing to separate them, but only momentarily. United only enjoyed level parity for a couple of minutes as Makgopa restored the lead from close range in injury time following a couple of touches from Nkota and Hotto inside the United penalty area.
The early part of the second half featured a determined defensive effort from the visitors, who had to contend with Matsatsansa’s search for another equaliser. Chaine proved key in staving off the challenge posed by the home side, assisted by a bit of wastefulness from their attackers.
Pirates only remained in the lead until the dying moments when Gape Moralo was left untracked as he surged into the penalty area. That turned out to be a costly error from the Buccaneers with the United midfielder finding the net to send the game into extra time.
With it being the second marathon cup encounter between the two Gauteng rivals at a similar stage within the same season, Pirates would have fancied their chances as they had pulled through during the same period of the previous knockout clash. It was however not to be, with Deon Hotto and Phillip Ndlondlo both unable to provide a potential winner when presented with chances to push the Soweto Giants ahead.
The bombardment of the United goal continued well into the final stages of the time allocated to open play. The visitors could not edge ahead in the dying moments, and the referee’s whistle eventually signalled a decider through penalties.
United were first to approach the spot and Lebohang Maboe and Bradley Grobler were both on target with Hotto and Tapelo Xoki both matching their efforts. Ex-Bucs midfielder Vincent Pule was the first to misfire as Chaine guessed correctly to save his shot which was followed by an on-target attempt from Makgopa, who put Pirates ahead for the first time in the shootout.
Nyikko Mobbie placed his side back level with their fourth spot kick and just as the visitors could see the finish line, Goss saved the corresponding kick from the boot of Ndlondlo. Successful spot kicks from Oratilwe Moloisane and Patrick Maswanganyi ensured that the drama of the encounter would be extended to sudden death.
Another save from Chaine – who kept out a shot from Christian Saile – shifted the advantage back into the Buccaneers’ favour. This set up a heroic moment for Goodman Mosele, who made no mistake in firing past Goss to ensure that Pirates’ lengthy reign in the competition extended beyond the last eight for the third season running.
Pirates XI: Chaine, Xoki, Mbokazi (Maela 85’), Ndlozi (Van Rooyen 69’), Mako, Makhaula (Ndlondlo 90’), Mbatha (Mosele 69’), Mofokeng (Shandu 85’), Nkota (Nkota 69’), Hotto, Makgopa.
