Sekhukhune United’s Masehe says side ‘threw everything’ at Orlando Pirates

Sekhukhune United assistant coach Paulus Masehe said his team committed everything to overturning their MTN8 semi-final deficit against Orlando Pirates, but were punished by the Buccaneers’ quality in transition.

Sekhukhune United went into the second leg at the sold-out Orlando Amstel Arena needing to overturn a 1-0 first-leg defeat suffered the previous Saturday. Their hopes of reaching the final were effectively ended during a difficult first half, when Orlando Pirates struck twice through Thapelo Mokobodi and Ghampani Lungu.

Kamogelo Sebelebele added a third goal late on as Orlando Pirates secured a place in the MTN8 final for a fifth consecutive season. For Sekhukhune United, the manner of the goals was particularly frustrating, with the visitors again exposed in the half-spaces and through central areas.

Masehe said his side had tried to adjust tactically, including using a 3-4-3 formation to limit Orlando Pirates’ opportunities in those areas.

“Yes, most definitely it was a game of two halves whereby first half, it looked like a different system joining by all means a 3-4-3 whereby we tried to close the half spaces from Pirates as we conceded from the same set of goals but unfortunately it wasn’t the case,” Masehe told SuperSport TV post-match.

The assistant coach admitted that Sekhukhune United repeated the defensive mistakes that had contributed to their first-leg defeat. He said the team would now need to return to training and work with their new players on the tactical demands of the system.

“We still conceded the same way through the run of play and in the central corridors, so it says to us we need to at least give ourselves sometime with the new team that we have because now we go back to the drawing board, drill them much better tactically, make them understand exactly what’s expected of them and it’s also a game whereby we threw everything at Pirates.

“We threw everything at Pirates, and it was always going to be case against such class as Pirates individual players which can be able to be clinical in the critical moments of transition,” Masehe added.

Orlando Pirates’ ability to exploit those moments proved decisive. Despite Sekhukhune United’s efforts to change the contest after the interval, the damage had already been done by the time Sebelebele completed the scoring.

Masehe was also questioned about the decision to replace D’Angelo Kazeem after 36 minutes, while the match was still goalless. The midfielder had already been booked and was finding it difficult to deal with Sebelebele’s threat on Orlando Pirates’ right flank.

The coaching staff chose to make the change before the situation worsened, with Masehe explaining that Kazeem’s importance to the team meant he had to be protected.

“We had to react as soon as possible because Kazeem was already on a yellow and he was struggling to contain Sebelebele on the right and we know for sure that Sebelebele was constantly going forward on the right-hand side so we had to protect him because we still need him, there’s a whole lot of games to be played,” Masehe said.