Kauleza: Sundowns could have beaten Pirates by eight goals

Former Orlando Pirates player Jimmy Kauleza believes Mamelodi Sundowns could have scored as many as eight goals in their MTN8 final victory over the Soweto club.

Sundowns won 2-0 at Moses Mabhida Stadium last weekend to claim the first domestic trophy of the season. However, Kauleza, who is known as ‘Gusheshe’, says the final score did not reflect the number of opportunities created by the Tshwane side.

“Pirates dominated the game on Saturday, but Sundowns created more scoring chances than Pirates. They could have buried Pirates with eight goals,” Kauleza told KickOff.

His assessment came despite Orlando Pirates having more control of the match for long periods. Kauleza felt Sundowns were significantly more dangerous when they attacked and repeatedly found space behind the Pirates defence.

“Sundowns had more than enough chances; they exposed the combination of [Lebone] Seema and [Nkosinathi] Sibisi. There were many through passes that came through, and mostly they found Sibisi left alone at the back,” he said.

Kauleza added that the final highlighted a specific defensive weakness for the team managed by Abdeslam Ouaddou.

“So, the weakness of the Sibisi and Seema combination was exposed by this game,” he said.

The defeat denied Orlando Pirates the opportunity to win the MTN8 for an eighth consecutive time. Sundowns instead secured the opening cup of the domestic campaign with their 2-0 success.

Pirates must now turn their attention to the Betway Premiership, with their next fixture coming against TS Galaxy on Tuesday.

The match will be played at the Orlando Amstel Arena, with kick-off scheduled for 19:30.