DURBAN – Orlando Pirates defeated Royal AM 2-1 at Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday night to advance to the MTN8 semi-finals.
Pirates surged ahead after just three minutes when Vincent Pule unleashed a low ball into the bottom corner as Royal AM failed to defend.
Pirates doubled their lead in the 55th minute after Thabiso Monyane ran in from the right and slotted past hapless Thwihli Thwahla goalkeeper Xolani Ngcobo.
Royal AM got a lifeline two minutes later when a curling shot from Mfundo Thikazi bounced off the post on the right and Shaune Mogaila charged in and hit the rebound.
Thwihli Thwahla tried to launch a series of attacks but the Buccaneers held on to seal a semifinal berth in the MTN8 Super Cup.
After the match, Buccaneers coach Jose Riveiro expressed his delight with the display of his charges who are on a cruise since his arrival.
“Yah well again extremely happy with the result but more than that extremely happy with the performance today,” Riveiro told SuperSport TV.
“I think we did it very well in different phases, the game has different moments, both teams with different approaches. We got an advantage very soon which us very important in these type of games,” he said.
