Remarkably, the September 10 final against Kaizer Chiefs will be Pirates’ fourth in succession, as they participated in all finals last year en route to claiming an historic treble.
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| Soweto Derby |
Genuine doubts existed at the beginning of the season regarding Pirates’ resolve and the fact that they had lost a mentor in Ruud Krol. Misgivings over Julio Leal’s regime amplified when this semi-final second leg was preceded by a shock away loss to Maritzburg United in midweek, but Pirates hardly showed weaknesses on a balmy Tshwane afternoon on Sunday, Manyisa thundering in a wonder goal to cancel out Elias Pelembe’s strike.
Sunday’s result not only means we have another Soweto Derby at FNB Stadium a week on Saturday. It also means we’ll have a double dose of SA’s biggest sporting fixture, with Chiefs scheduled to host Pirates in a league fixture on September 17.
Some have argued that so many derbies devalue a special match, but, for once, it couldn’t have come at a better time, with both Soweto giants showing signs of dominance in the local game.
But Pirates remain the team to beat given their recent achievements, and Sundowns failed dismally Sunday here when they were expected to provide a serious examination.
Having surrendered a precious away lead with just over 10 minutes to go in last week’s first leg to sink to a 2-3 defeat, Sundowns surprisingly failed to get out of first gear at the beginning of Sunday’s game.
Their coach Johan Neeskens acknowledged Pirates were the more aggressive side in a desultory first-half during which neither Moeneeb Josephs nor Wayne Sandilands made a save.
Neeskens persisted with the Surprise Moriri-Musa Nyatama combination in central midfield, but Sundowns simply lost the ball too often, and were never able to string a few passes together and trouble the Pirates defence.
For a team who could afford a draw and go through, Bucs showed more purpose and the only chance of the first half fell to Happy Jele, who found space just outside the Sundowns area but fired a shot which missed Wayne Sandilands’ goal by a mile.
Surprisingly, Neeskens didn’t feel the urge to ring the changes at the break, retaining all his players from the starting XI. Still, Sundowns showed immense improvement from the first half.
Suddenly Katlego Mphela, Pelembe and Lebohang Mokoena were finding each other in attack, exchanging nice passes, but finding Moeneeb Josephs in the Bucs goal in superb form.
One move involving the Downs attacking trio ended with a Pelembe effort blocked by Lucky Lekgwathi, the Pirates captain, on 56 minutes.
But Pirates could not survive the Brazilians’ excellent inter-play on 63 minutes, with Mphela’s lobbed pass sending Pelembe clean through, enabling the Mozambican to take his time before curling the ball past Josephs to put Sundowns ahead.
At 1-0, the hosts had a foot in the final, but, sadly for their fans who went berserk after Pelembe’s stunning goal, they fell silent after just seven minutes, thanks to arguably one of the best goals seen in domestic football.
As Pirates coach Leal prepared to make two substitutions, Manyisa received the ball just metres away from the centreline and hammered it forcefully past Sandilands, levelling the scores and restoring Bucs’ aggregate lead.
Sundowns committed more men forward after that, with Nyasha Mushekwi and Mabhuti Khenyeza supplementing Mphela as strikers, but it actually was Pirates who created more clearcut chances.
Substitute Bongani Ndulula side-footed an easy chance wide of goal, while Tlou Segolela also blew one.
Pirates did come under pressure in the dying minutes but firmly held on, with Leal introducing a third central defender in Rooi Mahamutsa. He shouldn’t have bothered, though, as Sundowns were clearly never going to find a winner here.
Source -Independent online