Sekhukhune see progress despite three straight defeats by Orlando Pirates

Sekhukhune United assistant coach Paulus Masehe believes his side can take encouragement from their three matches against Orlando Pirates, despite losing each meeting within the space of seven days.

Pirates completed a hat-trick of victories over Sekhukhune by winning Saturday’s MTN8 semi-final second leg 3-0 at Orlando Amstel Arena. The result followed a 2-0 league victory at the same venue four days earlier.

That sequence began the previous Saturday, when Orlando Pirates won the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final 1-0 at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium. Sekhukhune therefore suffered three defeats against the same opponents in successive fixtures, but Masehe said aspects of their performances offered grounds for optimism.

“The aspect that I think we did well from the first match against Pirates in the first leg [of the MTN8] is how we controlled possession of the ball and how we penetrated them and created some chances although they weren’t that many,” Masehe explained.

He felt Sekhukhune had improved their attacking threat in the league encounter and again showed greater attacking intent during the second half of Saturday’s decisive cup match.

“In the league game we created a lot of chances … even today (Saturday) it was evident in the second half that we did much better. We created a lot of chances and we also had to take the risk of committing numbers forward.”

The three defeats came despite Sekhukhune producing spells in which they were able to keep possession, move through the Orlando Pirates defence and create opportunities. Masehe identified those elements as evidence that his team had made progress across the three fixtures, even though they were unable to turn that improvement into a positive result.

Sekhukhune’s challenge became more difficult in the second leg as they had to chase the tie after losing the opening match 1-0. Orlando Pirates eventually added two more goals to secure a 3-0 victory on the night and book their place in the MTN8 final.

Thapelo Mokobodi, Ghampani Lungu and Kamogelo Sebelebele scored for the Sea Robbers. Their victory extended Orlando Pirates’ impressive record in the competition, with the club now having reached the MTN8 final five times in a row.

Orlando Pirates have also won the competition four consecutive times. Their latest success against Sekhukhune kept that run going and ended the latter’s hopes of advancing to the final.

Masehe’s assessment focused on the opportunities Sekhukhune created and their ability to take more attacking risks, rather than on the outcome of a demanding run of fixtures. His comments came after the third meeting between the sides in a single week, with Orlando Pirates winning all three.

The report was published by Sowetan. Story audio is generated using AI.