Sibisi warns of ‘very painful week’ after Pirates lose MTN8 final

Orlando Pirates captain Nkosinathi Sibisi says the club faces a “very painful week” after their attempt to retain the MTN8 was ended by a 2-0 defeat by Mamelodi Sundowns.

Pirates entered Saturday night’s final at Moses Mabhida Stadium as the defending champions, hoping to match Kaizer Chiefs’ record of 15 MTN8 titles. However, they were beaten by a Sundowns side managed by Miguel Cardoso.

Teboho Mokoena opened the scoring in the first half before Iqraam Rayners converted a penalty late in the second period to secure victory for Sundowns.

The result gave Sundowns their first Wafa Wafa title since 2021 and also avenged their 2023 final defeat by Pirates.

Sibisi acknowledged the difficulty of the loss but urged his team-mates to focus on the matches still ahead.

“A difficult one to take, you know,” a dejected Sibisi told OP TV.

“Very, very difficult. It’s going to be a very painful week for us.

“But we have to move on, we still have more games coming.

“I think we can still build from the performance, the boys left everything on the field, but it was just not meant to be.”

Pirates’ next fixture comes on Tuesday, 13 October, when they face TS Galaxy at Orlando Amstel Arena.