Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates will have it all to play for in the MTN8 semi-final second leg at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Brazilians made their way into this stage of the tournament after they claimed bragging rights in the Tshwane derby following their 2-0 win over rivals SuperSport United through goals from Marcelo Allende and Abubeker Nasir at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Pirates, meanwhile, booked their place in the last four after they edged out Royal AM 2-1 at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium after Vincent Pule and Thabiso Monyane cancelled out a 58th-minute goal from Shaune Mogaila.
The two teams were then pitted against each other in the semi-final, however, nothing could separate the teams in the first leg after they played out to a goalless draw at the Orlando Stadium.
“It’s a very rare scenario for us not to have shots on targets, especially when we had created so many moments that should have resulted in a goal,” Manqoba Mngqithi said.
“It was a very interesting game for the spectators. The unfortunate part is that it did not produce any goals. Tactically, I think it was a game of very small margins. And those marginal gains could have played in our favour if we had used them very well,” he added.
“Unfortunately, we did not, and ended up having no shots on targets. We had two good moments, with (Khuliso) Mudau on the opposite side and a third one towards the end of the first half, when Peter Shalulile made the run to the near post. At the end of the second half. Peter also had a very big moment with a pass from Tebogo Mokoena just on the edge of the 18-yard area.
“Unfortunately, all those moments came to nothing. But possession was looking very good; 59 per cent if I’m not mistaken, number of passes, completed passes, very good number of box entries from our side too,” Mngqithi added.
“But I must also give credit to Pirates, I also think they played very well. They were very smart in their approach. They were very strong in transition. And from the build up, they wanted to upset us a lot, sometimes with a high press.
“But from time to time we did come out. We are looking forward to the next assignment, which will determine who goes through,” he said on the return match in Polokwane on Saturday, 22 October.
Manqoba Mngqithi will have to ring changes for the upcoming fixture as the likes of Brian Onyango, Terrence Mashego, Mothobi Mvala, Abubeker Nasir and Gaston Sirino are all out due to injury, while Jose Riveiro will be equipped with his entire squad with no injuries or suspensions to report.
Peter Shalulile will look to rediscover his form across all competitions after he failed to score in his last two appearances, having already bagged six goals and registered two assists in 11 appearances across all competitions.
Monnapule Saleng will be hungry to continue his current scoring form for Pirates after he netted a brace in his last appearance in their win over Golden Arrows.
Mamelodi Sundowns’ MTN8 Form:
WD
Orlando Pirates’ MTN8 Form:
WD