Picture: Eyewitness News
Orlando Pirates beat their Soweto rivals Kaizer Chiefs in front of a 94 807 capacity crowd in the Black Label cup tournament to claim their fourth title in five years, in a much anticipated match played at the FNB stadium on Saturday afternoon. It took a penalty shootout to separate both teams after they scored a goal in each half, in what was said to be a deadlock game. Pirates opened the scoring through Sfiso Myeni, making the game a great game to watch as Chiefs were chasing the game throughout but Pirates held on to their lead.
Thamsanqa Gabuza of Orlando Pirates got injured and was replaced by Tendai Ndoro before the first half ended and the game went to the break 1-0 to Pirates. In the second half Chiefs tightened their midfield by replacing George Maluleka with Willard Katsande, and from there on it was Chiefs who proved dominant in attack.
Their work paid off as Reneilwe Letsholonyane scored for Chiefs to make it 1-1 with the help of second half substitute Siphelele Mthembu. With Orlando Pirates missing Kermit Erasmus and Lucky Lekgwathi with injury, as well as Chiefs missing Itumeleng Khune in the goalposts, both teams looked good with the replacements. Third choice keeper Reyard Pieterse replaced Brilliant Khuzwayo, who got injured in training and was supposed to cover for Khune, who returned to the team on Thursday.
The game ended 1-1 and was forced to go to penalties to decide the winner. Sphiwe Tshabala, Willard Katsande and Bernard Parker slotted in their penalties while both Keegan Ritchie and Reneilwe Letsholonyane missed theirs. Oupa Manyisa, Happy Jele, Patrick Phungwayo and Tendai Ndoro scored their respective penalties for Pirates while Menzi Masuku missed his.
The odds were against Chiefs as Ndoro scored the winning penalty for the Buccaneers and helped them clinch a fourth Black Label cup title, winning 4-3 on penalties. Brighton Mhlongo was without a doubt the best of the two keepers on the day and Pirates came out the better team, winning the cup for their champion coach.
