Pirates into fifth straight Cup final
Orlando Pirates qualified for a fifth successive cup final with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Golden Arrows in the first Telkom Knockout semifinal at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday night.
After reaching all three cup finals last term (Pirates won the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup, and lost to Kaizer Chiefs in the Telkom KO) and claiming the MTN8 for a second successive time earlier this season, Bucs will play in yet another showpiece match after goals from Siyabonga Sangweni, Thulasizwe Mbuyane and Oupa Manyisa saw them to victory over Arrows, for whom Robyn Johannes opened the scoring.
It is the first time that Abafana Bes’thende coach Muhsin Ertugral has lost a semifinal match in South African football, while Pirates will be looking to make history of their own in next month’s final against either Bidvest Wits or Santos (who play in the second semifinal on Sunday) -- Bucs have never won this tournament in any of its guises despite reaching the final half a dozen times before.
Arrows picked an unchanged line-up from the starting XI that beat Jomo Cosmos last weekend, while Pirates made no less than six changes to the team that lost 3-1 to Bidvest Wits. The likes of Lucky Lekgwathi, Andile Jali, Daine Klate and Benni McCarthy were welcome returnees for the Soweto side.
After a cagey opening to the game, Pirates almost opened the scoring in the 21st minute. An innocuous-looking long ball from Siyabonga Sangweni saw Benni McCarthy out-jump Musa Bilankulu and power a header onto the crossbar, with goalkeeper Helton Da Rocha well beaten.
Bucs looked the likelier scorers in what was a tightly-contested game, but Arrows surged ahead just past the half hour mark when former Pirates player Robyn Johannes picked up a pass from Dillon Sheppard, burst through the visitors’ backline and beat Moeneeb Josephs with a low shot.
From a former Buccaneer getting on the score sheet, it was soon the turn of a former Arrows defender to level the scores: Siyabonga Sangweni redirected a shot from Rooi Mahamutsa beyond Da Rocha in the 40th minute to leave the game locked at 1-1 heading into the break.
The first 20 minutes of the second half saw little goal mouth action, with the defences very much on top. Isaac Chansa did come close to putting Pirates ahead on 66 minutes, cracking a volley from the edge of the penalty area just wide of Arrows’ goal posts.
Abafana Bes’thende boosted their attack in the second half with the introductions of both Katlego Mashego and Collins Mbesuma off their bench, but it was Pirates’ first substitute, Thulasizwe Mbuyane, who got his name on the score sheet soon after coming on.
Good pressure from Daine Klate and a mix-up between Mzivukile Tom and Da Rocha allowed ‘Juju’ a straightforward chance to put Bucs ahead with just under 20 minutes to play and he duly guided home a left-footed shot to make it 2-1.
Any hopes Arrows had of sending the game to extra time were snuffed out on 83 minutes when Oupa Manyisa added to Pirates’ advantage by converting a penalty. The spot kick was awarded after Dillon Sheppard fouled Lucky Lekgwathi in the 18-yard area and earned a dismissal for a second bookable offence.
Golden Arrows (1) 1 (Johannes 32’)
Orlando Pirates (1) 3 (Sangweni 40’, Mbuyane 71’, Manyisa 83’ pen)
Arrows: Da Rocha; Zwane, Bilankulu, Johannes, Tom, Khuboni, Nene, Shange (Mashego 56’), Sheppard, van Heerden, Gabuza (Mbesuma 67’)
Pirates: Josephs; Lekgwathi, Mahamutsa, Sangweni, Cloete, Manyisa (Ngobeni 90+5’), Jali, Segolela (Mbuyane 65’), Chansa, Klate (Rantie 80’), McCarthy