Buccaneers advance to MTN8 final

JOHANNESBURG – It was a derby delight for Orlando Pirates, who comfortably reached the final of the MTN8 Cup at the fate of nemesis Kaizer Chiefs!

Amakhosi, at the end, were reminded of their misfortunes this season after they lost 2-0 in the return leg of the Wafa Wafa competition at FNB Stadium on Sunday, adding to the 3-0 humiliation in the first leg away.

The Buccaneers won the Soweto derby MTN8 semi-finals against Amakhosi without conceding a goal in the two-legged contest, after goals from Zakhele Lepasa, Vincent Pule and Thembinkosi Lorch at home in the first a week ago.

For Pirates, their prospects of winning their first trophy in six seasons couldn't be brighter as they'll be meet Bloemfontein Celtic, who booted champions SuperSport United 2-1 on aggregate, in the final on December 12 in a venue set to be announced.

This was coach Josef Zinnbauer’s first game back since taking compassionate leave to attend to a family emergency at home in German. But overall, the 50-year-old and ‘The Ghost’ will believe they can win finally win some silverware this season after these back-to-back performances in the derby.

But where to for Chiefs who’ve been a shadow of themselves since the start? The road to being a well-oiled machine, amid the transfer ban, added a few kilometres ahead of the two-week Fifa break as their destabilised defence conceded once more.

But equally, Chiefs should be disappointed that they didn’t come out of the blocks and took the match to Pirates. Both sides went into the interval deadlocked after a lacklustre first half, but Chiefs had possession, while Pirates looked deadly going forward.

As such Pirates had three goal attempts, while Chiefs had none. A stabilised Chiefs’ engine room that was anchored by Anthony Agay, while marshalled by Siphelele Ntshangase, who replaced the injured Reeve Frosler, after twisting his ankle, made Chiefs rotate the ball around.

But that didn’t pay dividends, compared to Pirates’ attack that created chances. Pule had the half’s better chance, using the acres of space down the right flanks before hitting the side netting with Daniel Akpeyi having tightly closed the angle.

A more reinvigorated Chiefs’ side appeared to have prevailed in the second half as Gavin Hunt’s men sent more bodies into Pirates’ final third. As such they should have been rewarded for their efforts but Ntshangase saw his close-range attempt rattled against the crossbar as Pirates’ defence regrouped.

But Amakhosi were instantly punished for their wastefulness with a helping hand from Akpeyi. Against the run of play, resultant of their clearance from Ntshangase’s effort, Deon Hotto got at the end of a defence-splitting pass from the engine room.

The Namibian made a low pile-drive from close-range but his effort slipped through the butter-fingers, laying off the rebound for a loose Fortune Makaringe who pounced with ease on an empty net. From thereon, there was no coming back for Chiefs who needed five goals to progress.

Things turned for the worse for Chiefs as their loose defence was exposed, again. In a three-on-one man situation, Hotto released substitute Linda Mntambo with a loose ball before the latter pounced easily past a flat-footed Akpeyi to wrap up the contest in style.