Zakhele Lepasa scored a hattrick when a rampant Orlando Pirates brushed aside Sekhukhune United 5-0 at an electrifying Orlando Stadium last night.
Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo and dangerman Monnapule Saleng were also on target for Bucs, who won the MTN8 quarterfinal handsomely.
Pirates led 1-0 from Lepasa’s opening goal. The striker is in great form since his return from a loan spell with SuperSport United and could easily have ended the match with four goals had he not missed a penalty in the second half.
Lepasa has scored an amazing five goals in just two games, in all competitions. He scored two goals when Pirates defeated Royal AM by 4-2 in a DStv Premiership match on Tuesday night.
But that only lasted for 22 minutes as Pirates’ terrible trio combined to set up a first goal for Lepasa.
United had a glorious opportunity to bring themselves back into the game when they were awarded a penalty, after Paseka Mako brought down Chibuike Ohizu inside the box. Ohizu stepped up to take the spot kick, but his strong shot hit the woodwork.
And what followed from that was five minutes of sheer brilliance from Jose Riveiro’s Pirates as they scored three quick goals. Their next match will be on Tuesday when they travel to Chippa United for a league clash.
In the earlier match, Mamelodi Sundowns beat a 10-men Moroka Swallows 1-0 via a solitary goal from Themba Zwane to secure a semifinal berth in the other MTN8 game earlier yesterday, writes Sazi Hadebe.
Swallows lost former Sundowns midfielder Andile Jali, who joined the Birds from Downs alongside former assistant coach Steve Komphela to red card in the seventh minute. Jali was judged by referee Cedric Muvhali to have posed grave danger to Teboho Mokoena’s leg when they clashed.
Sundowns had 72% of the ball in the first half, but it came to nothing when one looks at how Rulani Mokwena’s side wasted opportunity after opportunity. Mokoena, Zwane, Marcelo Allende, Neo Modiba and Aubrey Modiba lacked their usual accuracy and sharpness in feeding strikers Thapelo Maseko and Lucas Ribeiro Costa.
Swallows, on the other hand, relied on the counter after losing Jali, which resulted in the visitors having no shot on target in the first 45 minutes. All they were concerned about was stopping Sundowns from opening the score.
However, they didn’t have to do much defending as Sundowns players often spurned their chances without anyone challenging them. The game turned for the better in the second stanza as Sundowns started to play with more precision and direction.
Zwane was the beneficiary of a slick Sundowns attack, this time fed by Costa, to open the scoring just three minutes into the second stanza. Maseko was also unlucky to see his low shot missing the Swallows net by a few inches, as Sundowns continued to push for more goals.
Immediately after that attempt Maseko was stretchered off the field injured, forcing Mokwena to bring on Lesiba Nku, a former Marumo Gallants player. Maseko’s exit coincided with Sundowns taking their foot off the pedal.
But in the end Sundowns failed to capitalise on their chances despite dominating in both halves. Sundowns had 16 attempts and only seven on target. That they scored only one goal will give Mokwena sleepless nights as he tries to figure out how they can turn their advantage into more goals.
But having won all their three matches in the 2023-2024 campaign, Mokwena will sleep better than Komphela, seeing his side is in the semifinals of this competition.
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