Orlando Pirates clinch second cup of the season

Terrence Dvzukamanja completed a memorable season for Orlando Pirates when he scored a last-gasp winner in the Nedbank Cup final to beat Sekhukhune United 2-1 at Loftus in Pretoria last night.

The win gave Pirates their second trophy in a 2022-2023 campaign they started with a little unknown Spanish coach, Jose Riveiro. Three months after his arrival in South Africa after spending eight years coaching in Finland, Riveiro won the MTN8 in Durban where Pirates beat AmaZulu FC.

Last weekend Pirates ensured qualification for next year’s Caf Champions League after finishing second behind champions Mamelodi Sundowns in the DStv Premiership, a campaign that left Riveiro unhappy as he felt his team gave up the fight way too early in the season.

But Riveiro will forget about their bad run in the league after seeing Dzvukamanja, a player he trusted against all odds, gifting him and his side a second trophy. The Zimbabwean stabbed the winner in referee’s optional time, connecting with Monnapule Saleng’s cross when the game looked destined for extra time.

The entire game was far from being a spectacle, but over 50,000 Bucs fans who packed this stadium won’t mind as they’ll be bragging for months of a rare feat of winning two cup competitions.

Pirates will also end the season with a better bank balance than most PSL clubs after bagging over R20m in prize money for all their efforts. They received R7m for winning the Nedbank Cup, adding to the R8m they won in the MTN8 and R7.5m for finishing second in the Premiership.

But Sundowns are still big winners as they got R15m for winning the league title and R38m for crashing out in the semifinals of the Champions League.

Saturday night’s game started in a frantic mode with Sekhukhune, playing their first ever final after being promoted two years ago, taking the game to the fancied Soweto giants. Babina Noko took the game to Pirates in the early stages, with the goal scored by Sibusiso Vilakazi in the 12th minute, a gift from Pirates central defenders Tapelo Xoki and Nkosinathi Sibisi, who couldn’t clear a loose ball.

From then on it was just Pirates creating chances, as Sekhukhune changed their game plan to counterattacking. It seemed to work until a few minutes before the break when Sekhukhune’s striker Victor Letsoalo created the most controversial moment of the match.

Letsoalo had been floored inside Sekhukhune’s area, but referee Thando Ndzandzeka waved play on. Ndzandzeka’s decision seemed harmless until Letsoalo handled the ball while he was still on the floor when Thembinkosi Lorch, the Pirates attacker, tapped the ball towards his hands while trying to move past him.

The referee pointed to the spot and Xoki restored parity, much to the chagrin of Sekhukhune coach Brandon Truter, who felt the referee gave away a soft and undeserved penalty to Pirates.

The second stanza was a completely different affair as Sekhukhune camped in Pirates’ half in search of the winning goal.

Pirates looked very uncomfortable in trying to defend and a few of their players, including Lorch, Paseka Mako and Miguel Timm got into the referee’s book committing fouls.

Perhaps experience caught up with Sekhukhune as they seemed to tire towards the end. It was at that moment that Dzvukamanja struck, connecting with Saleng’s cross to score his eighth goal of the season, and his first in five matches in this cup.