Orlando Pirates booked their place in the Carling Knockout Cup semi-finals after defeating a stubborn Sekhukhune United 1-0 at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Despite dominating the match, the defending champions failed to add to their tally, as Sekhukhune’s defence remained compact and absorbed the pressure from the Pirates’ attack.
Babina Noko’s backline was eventually breached in the 31st minute when Mpho Padime put Pirates ahead with a free kick from outside the visitors’ penalty area.
Sekhukhune threatened to equalise, but their efforts failed to produce a goal.
The Buccaneers also struggled to extend their lead despite creating several scoring opportunities, including after the introduction of Oswin Appollis in the second half.
Pirates held on to their slender 1-0 advantage, much to the frustration of coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, who felt his team should have scored more goals.
“It’s the problem of many, many teams around the world: being efficient in both boxes.
“With these games, I’m looking forward and seeing that we could have been even more efficient because we created these big chances.
“So, I don’t want to be hard on the boys, but it’s an area that we definitely need to continue working on. We cannot step down, and we have to continue the Individual Development Plan with the strikers, hoping that we are going to score more goals because today it was a 5-0 game,” said Ouaddou.
