Tso praises Thalente Mbatha despite Orlando Pirates’ MTN8 final defeat

iDiski TV analyst Benedict Vilakazi has praised Thalente Mbatha’s performance for Orlando Pirates, despite the club losing the MTN8 final to Mamelodi Sundowns in Durban.

Sundowns scored twice without reply in the sold-out match to take the Wafa Wafa title from the Buccaneers.

The final was only Mbatha’s third appearance for Pirates this season after injury ruled him out at the start of the campaign. Vilakazi, known as ‘Tso’, said the midfielder performed well alongside Simphiwe Selepe and Thapelo Mokobodi.

However, he believed Pirates lacked a player capable of connecting their defence with forward Yanela Mbuthuma.

“Thalente played very well,” Tso said on iDiski TV.

“Pirates needed Mbatha in that midfield and he did very well. The only thing that we missed today was to have somebody to link from the defensive position to the attacking with Mbuthuma.”

Vilakazi explained that Sundowns’ positioning made it difficult for Pirates to build through the centre of the pitch.

“What Sundowns did was that Tebza [Teboho Mokoena] was sitting in front of the defence forcing Pirates to use the width and then Mbatha he was trying also to make those runs using the width,” he said.

“But it was not enough because once Mbatha is out of the central position…”

Despite the defeat, Vilakazi was positive about the contributions of Pirates’ midfielders, including Selepe and Mokobodi.

“The boys, they were not bad, they played. Selepe played very well, Mokobodi, they played very well,” he added.

“The difference between the two was that the other one has got more experience compared to the other one.

“That’s the only difference, but I was happy with Mbatha’s performance today. I think he did very well.”