Four meetings this season, and Sekhukhune United still have not scored against Orlando Pirates. This time the margin was a single goal, and the player who found it was a teenager making his first start.
The Pirates v Sekhukhune result: Orlando Pirates 1, Sekhukhune United 0, in the knockout cup quarter-final at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday afternoon. Mpho Padime scored just after the half-hour and the holders are into the semi-finals. Business Day, The Citizen, iDiski Times, Flashscore, AfricaSoccer and Pan Africa Football all reported the 1-0 after the final whistle.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Orlando Pirates 1-0 Sekhukhune United |
| Half-time | 1-0 |
| Goal | Mpho Padime, first half (32 minutes by Flashscore’s and AfricaSoccer’s timing) |
| Venue | Orlando Stadium, Soweto |
| Kick-off | 15:00 |
| Coaches | Abdeslam Ouaddou (Pirates), Papi Zothwane (Sekhukhune) |
| Competition | Knockout cup, quarter-final |
A quick free-kick and a teenager in the right place
Ouaddou shuffled his side. Padime, 19, was handed his first start for Pirates and Oswin Appollis began on the bench again, The Citizen reports. The coach explained afterwards that it was a chance to give Padime and Sifiso Luthuli game time, and that with a squad of 40 players he has to keep everyone motivated.
Padime had already gone close with a long-range shot that cleared the crossbar, according to iDiski Times and AfricaSoccer. Sekhukhune’s best moment of the half came around the 27th minute, when Chibuike Ohizu headed a corner over from close range.
A few minutes later Pirates were ahead. Business Day describes the move: Thapelo Mokobodi took a quick, short free-kick to Tshepang Moremi, and Moremi crossed. The Citizen calls the bounce that followed fortuitous and Flashscore says the ball fell kindly at the back post, but Padime was there to finish from close range. Pan Africa Football times it at 31 minutes.
Pirates v Sekhukhune result: the chances that went begging
Pirates should have made the second half comfortable. Moremi, who scored twice against Milford in the last 16, had an afternoon to forget in front of goal: Flashscore reports that he missed the ball completely from six yards and later fired over with nobody near him. Appollis came on in the second half and lifted the attack at once, by the accounts of The Citizen and iDiski Times. Ouaddou said he is protecting Appollis for the important games, calling him one of the club’s best players.
The second goal never came. Sekhukhune, whom Ouaddou described as “very aggressive and compact”, stayed within one goal to the end.
What Ouaddou made of it
The Pirates coach did not dress it up. “If we are honest the game could have finished with three or four more goals,” he told SuperSport TV, as The Citizen reported. He was happy to reach the semi-finals, he said, “but not like that”. In his view Pirates panicked at times for no reason, lost cheap balls and kicked chances into the stands when they could have killed the game. iDiski Times has him saying the team must now work on its control.
Anyone who read captain Nkosinathi Sibisi’s description of his coach in our Pirates v Sekhukhune preview will recognise the tone.
Why it matters
For Orlando Pirates, the defence of the trophy goes on, and the season record against Sekhukhune now reads four wins from four, seven goals scored and none conceded, as Flashscore counts it. For Papi Zothwane, who spoke all week about approaching Pirates differently, the margin was as narrow as any this season. The outcome was the same.
Our view: this is ScoreLine’s opinion. A one-goal win with a changed side, and the winner from a 19-year-old on his first start, is a fair afternoon’s work for a club juggling cup, league and the Champions League. Ouaddou is still right to be uneasy. Pirates left the door ajar for an hour against a side that had not scored against them all season, and a semi-final opponent with sharper finishing would not be so forgiving.
What comes next
Sundowns, 1-0 winners over Golden Arrows on Tuesday, are already waiting. The draw for the last four is made once Sunday’s ties are done, and both start at 18:00: Siwelele take on Kaizer Chiefs in Polokwane, and AmaZulu travel to Stellenbosch. Before any semi-final, Business Day reports, Pirates open their CAF Champions League group campaign against Simba SC in Zanzibar on 28 November.