Pirates lock horns with City in MTN8 semis

by Thando Mpembe

Tuesday Aug 27, 2024. 13:16

Keeping their eyes on the prize for a third MTN8 title in a row, Orlando Pirates will go up against Cape Town City in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Wednesday, 28 August 2024

Venue: DHL Stadium

Kick-off: 18h00

The Sea Robbers dispatched SuperSport United 3-1 in the quarter-finals to make it to this stage and following positive results in the CAF Champions League preliminary rounds, they’ll be looking for another win against the Citizens.

As for City, the team won the title back in 2018 and they saw off Sekhukhune United 1-0 in the quarters, courtesy of an 88th minute penalty scored by Darwin Gonzalez.

Buccaneers coach Jose Riveiro has stated that it’s a bit of a strange time for the team as the league hasn’t started yet but they’ve found themselves playing a few crucial matches.

“It’s an opportunity for us to become more mature. It’s one of the things we can do better as a group — we cannot hide ourselves right now because every football fan is watching us right as no-one else is playing,” he said.

Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler says he doesn’t need to do much to motivate his players to take on the Sea Robbers in this MTN8 semi-final clash.

“The players are obviously aware of the qualities that Pirates possess. They are aware of the status in our country in terms of Orlando Pirates, so they go into this game with lots of self-motivation already. I don’t need to motivate them,” said Tinkler.