Bucs, Downs Sweat to MTN 8 Semi’s
South African football powerhouses Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns were pushed to the absolute limit as both giants survived dramatic extra-time thrillers to secure MTN8 semi-final spots on Saturday.
Pirates needed a 120th-minute winner to edge a stubborn 10-man Durban City 2–1 at the Amstel Arena in Orlando, while Sundowns narrowly defeated Polokwane City 3–2 after extra time at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
At Orlando Stadium, the Buccaneers found themselves severely tested despite Durban City midfielder Brooklyn Poggenpoel receiving a red card in the 35th minute for a reckless challenge on Tshepang Moremi.
Although Patrick Maswanganyi converted the subsequent 37th-minute penalty, Jean Lwamba equalised for the visitors early in the second half to force extra time.
With a penalty shootout looming in the final minute of extra time, new signing Ghampani Lungu smashed home a decent volley to finally break City’s stubborn resistance.
Meanwhile, Sundowns endured their own gruelling ordeal after Polokwane City’s Bonginkosi Dlamini capitalised on poor set-piece defending to hand the visitors an early lead.
Teboho Mokoena and Antonio Van Wyk responded to give the Pretoria giants a 2–1 halftime advantage, before Tidimalo Molokane equalised from another set-piece to send the match into extra time.
Veteran midfielder, Themba Zwane, was introduced early in extra time, producing a clever backheel assist for Cassius Mailula’s decisive 113th-minute strike to secure the win.
Sundowns head coach, Miguel Cardoso, praised the veteran’s experience and leadership in navigating emotional moments under pressure.
“Themba, today was very important, the moment he came in the match. The option was him because he has more experience of dealing with emotional moments and the leadership that he can have, that would eventually give others more stability and more energy.
“Look, Themba is a player that will continue to be important for us,” Cardosi remarked after the match.
The Portuguese mentor acknowledged that Zwane’s evolving role within the squad remains immense despite his advancing age.
Bayano Moloto, Polokwane City’s head coach, commended his technical team for successfully identifying weaknesses against the local giants.
“I must give credit to my technical team for the work they did analysing Sundowns.
“We identified opportunities from set-pieces, and today you could see we created problems in that area. It is something we had not seen teams exploit against them before,” Moloto added.
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