By Kopano Dibakwane
MTN8 defending champions, Orlando Pirates, walked away with the cup for the second season in a row after beating Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1 in a penalty shootout, at a sold out Moses Mabhida stadium in Kwazulu-Natal on Saturday evening.
The Buccaneers were clearly not the favourite team to win the title, this follows their four successive losses in the DStv champions league. A few factors such as strong winds and a slippery pitch, were disadvantages faced by both teams on the day.
Sundowns decried a few decisions from the match referee(Abongile Tom) after a goal by Junior Mendieta and three penalty chances inside the Pirates 18th area were disallowed.
Sundowns created more chances to lead throughout the game, but suffered missed goal attempts from their trusted goal specialist, Peter Shalulile. The match ended in a 0-0 draw and 30 more minutes were added for extra time, but both teams failed to score, which subsequently led to the penalty shootout where Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine, who won the man of the match title, stopped the first 3 penalties from Bongani Zungu, Junior Mendieta and Teboho Mokoena, while pirates players(Deon Hotto, Lesedi Kapinga and Karim Kimvuidi) scored to guarantee the cup for pirates.
Sundowns head coach, Rhulani Mokoena, congratulated Pirates and promised his team supporters that Sundowns will bounce back from the nail-biting defeat. Sundowns also failed to clinch the MTN8 cup last season after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Pirates in the semi-final.
The proud Pirates coach, Jose Riveiro, said that the game was not a walk in the park, as both teams were hungry for victory.
Caption: Pirates players and technical team celebrating yet another MTN8 trophy
