Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United will play the first Telkom Knockout Semi-Final on Saturday evening. SuperSport’s resurgence under Gordon Igesund makes this a mouth-watering encounter. However, it will also be an emotional match as the Pirates players look to honour their ex-captain, who passed away two weeks back, by going all the way to the final.
Orlando Pirates booked their spot in the semi-final by thrashing Ajax 4-1 at Orlando Stadium in what was an awkward affair due to the heavy rain conditions. An own-goal by Tashreeq Morris opened the scoring for the Buccaneers with Siyabonga Sangweni, Lehlohonolo Majoro and Oupa Manyisa completing the rout. Pirates are now in-line to qualify for their sixth successive final and could possibly meet the same opposition, Platinum Stars, who beat them to the title last season. Pirates have performed well at Orlando Stadium so far this season. The Buccaneers have lost just one match at home in all competitions, winning six of their eight games and drawing just once. After missing Pirates’ last three encounters, Thabo Matlaba has resumed full training and is expected to replace Patrick Phungwayo at left-back on Saturday. Matlaba sustained an achilles tendon injury while on national duty with Bafana Bafana against Congo three weeks ago.
SuperSport earned a hard-fought 2-1 away victory over Bidvest Wits in their quarter-final with goals courtesy of Dove Wome and Lebogang Manyama. Gordon Igesund has made a positive impact at Matsatsantsa since replacing Cavin Johnson. The ex-Bafana Bafana coach has guided SuperSport to six victories from seven matches since joining in September. After losing their first match under Igesund against Maritzburg last week, Matsatsantsa bounced back on Wednesday night beating Moroka Swallows 1-0 away from home. Dove Wome scored the only goal of the match on the stroke of half time. Igesund appears to have sparked a spike in form from his midfielder, Lebogang Manyama, who has since found some scoring form and been SuperSport’s driving force from midfield. United have been boosted by the return of captain, Thabo September, who is back in the fold after recovering from injury and was in the starting line-up against Swallows on Wednesday. United are the league’s joint top-scorers after nine games, with 15 goals to their credit.
These sides met in the first round of the MTN8 this season with Pirates coming out 2-1 winners at Orlando Stadium. The Pirates defence has looked solid of late and they will need to be at the top of their game here. However, they have been inconsistent going forward and could be held to a draw in 90 minutes.
