Orlando Pirates were made to work incredibly hard for a place in the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup, as they needed extra time to overcome second-tier Venda Football Academy 2-1 at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday night.
Locked at 1-1 after the regulation 90 minutes – thanks to goals from Kermit Erasmus and Edmore Chirambadare – the Buccaneers ultimately triumphed on the back of a strike from Thembinkosi Lorch seven minutes before the end of extra time to progress into the final eight of South Africa’s national cup.
Pirates created the first clear chance in the 11th minute when a great chip over the defence from Kermit Erasmus put the hard-running Deon Hotto in on goal, but the Namibian struck his effort wildly off target from just a few metres out.
Yet the Buccaneers kept on plugging away and were rewarded with a goal midway through the first half, as Hotto whipped in a cross from the left to pick out Erasmus, who scored with a neat downward header past the right-hand of Venda goalkeeper Harold Ndlovu.
The visitors almost came up with an immediate reply, as Edmore Chirambadare clipped in a great cross from the left flank for Rudzani Thobo, but the Venda forward put a header just wide of the far post.
Five minutes later the second-tier club created another fine chance, as Chirambadare drove beyond the defence down the right of the penalty area, but saw his stabbed shot turned away by Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine.
The hosts dialled up the attacking pressure as halftime approached, but they were unable to add to their 1-0 advantage by the time the interval arrived.
At the start of the second half, Bucs swapped out Erasmus in favour of Terrence Dzvukamanja, and the Zimbabwean immediately drew a finger-tip save from Ndlovu with a dipping long-range strike.
Yet a shocking piece of defensive play from Pirates’ makeshift left-back Hotto, who tried to run the ball across his penalty area, then gifted an equaliser to Venda, with Chirambadare easily side-footing home to make it 1-1 in the 49th minute.
Twenty minutes later the VFA almost claimed the lead, with Thobo powering an effort on target from a corner kick, only to see Nkosinathi Sibisi make a clearance off the line, before a counterattack at the other end had Thembinkosi Lorch rattle the crossbar with a shot which gave Ndlovu no chance whatsoever.
Pirates dominated the latter stages of regulation time, searching for a decisive goal to prevent an additional 30 minutes, but Venda were able to rebuff their hosts’ attacks with relative ease to ensure extra time was called for.
A similar pattern followed in the next phase of the game and a penalty shootout seemed the inevitable outcome. However, on 113 minutes a long ball was flicked on by Pirates substitute Evidence Makgopa and Lorch beat the advancing Ndlovu to the loose ball and lobbed it into an empty net, sealing a 2-1 triumph and allowing the Bucs supporters to breathe a mighty sigh of relief.
Pirates join Mamelodi Sundowns, Dondol Stars, Sekhukhune United, Chippa United and Royal AM in the quarterfinals. The remaining two slots will be decided on Sunday 12 March with matches pitting TS Galaxy against Stellenbosch FC and Kaizer Chiefs against Casric Stars.
Orlando Pirates (1) (1) 2 (Erasmus 24’, Lorch 113’)
Venda Football Academy (0) (1) 1 (Chirambadare 49’)
After extra time
Pirates: Chaine, Mako, Xoki, Sibisi, Hotto (Monyane 63’), Timm, Ndlondlo (Makaringe 91’), Dlamini (Pule 63’), Lorch, Saleng (Motshwari 118’), Erasmus (Dzvukamanja 46’ [Makgopa 75’])
Venda: Ndlovu, Makhubele, Ramonyai, Siyasi, Ngubane, Jodwana (Nene 75’), Tavengwa (Ndlela 90’), Chirambadare, Thobo (Mutsivhuli 105’), Mariba (Adepoju 105’), Manzini (Tau 66’)