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Pirates set up MTN8 final date with Celtic

Pirates set up MTN8 final date with Celtic
Vincent Pule of Orlando Pirates is challenged by Yagan Sasman of Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday in the MTN8 semi-final second leg at the FNB Stadium in Bloemfontein. (Photo: Gavin Barker / Backpagepix / Gallo Images)

After two exciting legs in the semi-finals of the competition, it’ll be Bloemfontein Celtic versus Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 final. The two sides dispatched SuperSport United and Kaizer Chiefs respectively.

Orlando Pirates and Bloemfontein Celtic will battle it out for the MTN8 title on 12 December.

The Buccaneers beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-0 in the second leg, on Sunday 8 November after walloping them 3-0 in the first leg. That meant the encounter ended with a 5-0 aggregate in favour of Pirates.

The other finalists, Phunya Sele Sele, dug deep to see off SuperSport United 1-0 at the Petrus Molemela Stadium on Saturday. The aggregate over two legs was 2-1.

Red Hotto Pirates

Deon Hotto was in imperious form for Pirates as they compounded Gavin Hunt’s miserable stay so far at the Chiefs Village. The Namibian attacker was directly involved in both of the Buccaneers’ goals at the FNB.

For the first goal, his close-range shot was parried by Chiefs’ goal minder, Daniel Akpeyi. Midfielder Fortune Makaringe was on hand to pick up the scraps and tap into an empty net as Pirates took a 1-0 lead on the day, as well as extending their overall lead in the two-legged encounter.

Hotto was again the master puppeteer as his side caught a desperate Amakhosi with a blistering transition. His incisive pass landed at the feet of a sprinting Linda Mntambo. The substitute kept his cool one-on-one with Akpeyi and slotted in at the near post.

Hotto is one of the new arrivals at Pirates this season. And just like his fellow newcomers such as Wayde Jooste, Terrence Dzvukamanja and Thabang Monare, he has slotted into the side seamlessly. This has the Bucs faithful dreaming of their first piece of silverware since the 2013/2014 season.

“It’s a big achievement going all the way to the final, and we’re looking forward to it. With the quality we have in the team we can go all the way and achieve greater things in the future,” Hotto told SuperSport TV after receiving his man of the match award.

Pirates have won the Top Eight competition twice in its current guise, in 2010 and again in 2011. In 2014 they fell at the final hurdle when Chiefs edged them 1-0 to lift the trophy. Come December, they’ll be looking to bag their third MTN8 title.

Significantly, Pirates also had their head coach, Josef Zinnbauer, back on the bench. The German mentor had left for his home country immediately after his team’s first-leg victory. His son was involved in a car accident and is in a coma. He was granted compassionate leave by the club to be at his son’s side.  

After missing Pirates’ 1-0 victory over Celtic last week and with rumours swirling that he had been sacked, Zinnbauer was once again back on the bench and was extremely pleased by what he saw from his charges.

“We had a good game. We did not have the target of scoring, we had time and we were very calm. We worked very good in the defending positions, and waited on the right moments so we can [sic] play counterattack,” said Zinnbauer.

Hunt has had a difficult time since joining Chiefs. Following this latest disappointment of his tenure to date, he was frank in his assessment.

“It [the score] is a true reflection. We’ve got to knuckle down and work harder and do the other part of the game, which we’re not doing. There’s a part of the game which we’re not doing and it’s because of a lot of things. But we have to try and get that right,” the Chiefs coach told SuperSport.

Maduka at the wheel

Celtic coach John Maduka has led his team to a second successive cup final. The Free State outfit competed in the Nedbank Cup final at the back end of last season. Unfortunately for them, they encountered a raging bull in the form of Mamelodi Sundowns, losing 1-0 on the night.

Following his side’s 1-0 victory over a SuperSport side that was bidding to reach its third MTN8 final in four years, Maduka said they had learned from their last final defeat and would be out to rectify the mistakes made in that fixture.

“It’s a cup final. Anything can happen in the cup final. This is our second final in a short period of time. We have learnt from the last one. So… we think it’s going to be a different story,” commented Maduka.   

Maduka led Celtic to glory as captain in this very competition in 2005, when it was still called the SAA Super Eight. Come December, he will be looking to bring joy to the supporters of a club which continues to punch above its weight in spite of off-field financial issues. DM

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