Durban - Orlando Pirates booked their place in the 2022 MTN8 final with an impressive 3-0 victory, dumping out defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Buccaneers made the dream start as eventual Man of the Match Monnapule Saleng set up Kermit Erasmus for the opener.
Saleng would go on to find two goals of his own in the second half, subjecting Sundowns to their heaviest defeat in a cup competition in the PSL era.
Pirates coach Jose Riveiro, praised his teams near perfect performance and was visibly proud of how his side put Sundowns to the sword.
"Well, we played a game that we dreamed about, one of the scenarios that we knew we could find during the 90 minutes which is getting the lead early in the first half and it happened, I think we played a good start to the game,” Riveiro expressed.
Monnapule Saleng against Sundowns today:
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) October 22, 2022
🅰 Assists: 1
⚽ Goals: 2
🏆 Man of the Match
10/10 performance in a big game!#MTN8 pic.twitter.com/P482gTyYP9
“We were aggressive against a good team, it’s difficult to press them, it’s difficult to be aggressive against Sundowns players who manage the ball very well.
“I said before, for me, we did almost the… I won’t say perfect performance but we did everything the game was asking for in the 90 minutes, outstanding performance from the guys, the way they prepared their minds to face the game was super and I’m a very proud coach tonight.”
The Buccaneers will now await the outcome of the second semi-final between AmaZulu and Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday to find out who they’ll face in the final of the competition.
@SmisoScribe