Sundowns vs #OrlandoPirates: NedbankCup final (1st half)0-0
After putting in a great fight and playing fantastic football in both halves, Mamelodi Sundowns slipped into a 2-1 defeat against Orlando Pirates on Saturday afternoon in a frantic action-packed affair at Mbombela Stadium.
The supporters in Mbombela marvelled at the great display of South African football from both sides who delivered a crackling start in an end-to-end clash. Masandawana dominated but didn’t make enough clear-cut chances, in contrast to their Orlando Pirates counterparts.
An early opportunity to open the scoring came from the hosts when Khuliso Mudau was knocked inside the 18 area. This prompted the referee to point to the spot, awarding them a penalty. The shot taken by Lucas Ribeiro was however cushioned by Pirates’ goalkeeper, Sipho Chaine, to keep the score deadlocked at 0-0.
That might have fired up the visitors as they posed threats a few times in the Downs box. Ronwen Williams however, made strong saves to deny Pirates an early lead, leaving the score at 0-0 at the break.
The restart promised more exciting football as the two sides looked to make their supporters happy. The scoring was finally opened on the 54th minute through captain fantastic, Themba Zwane’s easy tap in, that came from Ribeiro. Shortly after his assist, Ribero was forced to go out after an injury, prompting Coach Rulani to introduce Thapelo Morena.
In less than twenty minutes, the Buccaneers had levelled matters through Patrick Maswanganyi’s penalty kick, following a foul in the Downs box which prompted the referee to also point to the spot.
The pressure was building as both teams looked to not have a repeat of the previous meeting in a final, where the match went to penalties. After the back and forth of attempting to slot one in their respective boxes, to have the upper hand, it was the visitors that struck a blow to decide the game in stoppage time through substitute, Relebohile Mofokeng.
After the last gasp goal by the Soweto-based side, there was no chance for a comeback for the Brazilians as the referee blew the final whistle, denying them what would have been a treble dream.
