Casric Stars pulled off a major upset to advance in the Nedbank Cup, defeating Orlando Pirates 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw at the Orlando Amstel Arena in Soweto on Saturday.
The Buccaneers’ Operation “Vat Alles” has come to an end as the MTN8 and Carling Knockout champions will not add another domestic cup to their trophy cabinet this season.
The Motsepe Foundation Championship side frustrated the hosts in the first half, keeping a disciplined and compact defence that refused to allow their opposition to enter the box. Their discipline paid off in the end.
Orlando Pirates are 𝐎𝐔𝐓 of the #NedbankCup 🤯❌
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) February 21, 2026
Casric Stars punch their ticket to their quarter-finals after a tense penalty shootout ⏩#SSDiski pic.twitter.com/aBveyJmoDN
Casric Stars began with a bang as Mlungisi Zwane charged forward from kickoff and let fly from long range, narrowly dragging his shot wide of the post to the relief of Pirates’ goalkeeper Sipho Chaine.
The Buccaneers returned the favour in the sixth minute. Mpho Chabatsane took long range shot of his own, but did not trouble the goalkeeper.
In the ninth minute, a long throw was not dealt with by Pirates, the ball fell to Simon Moukete, who dragged his shot across the face of goal, missing a golden opportunity to hand the visitors an early lead.
Struggling to break down the visitors’ low block, de Jong tried to find the bottom left corner from outside the area in the 19th minute, but could not keep his shot on target.
Relebohile Mofokeng attempted to curl one into the top right corner from the edge of the area in the 23rd minute, but had his effort punched behind.
Moukete had another opportunity to score in the 28th minute as he spun Sibisi in the box, but could not keep his shot down from a tight angle.
In the 31st minute, Pirates finally broke into the Casric Stars box through Tshepang Moremi, who squared the ball for the arriving de Jong, but the New Zealand international could not make contact with the ball.
With few chances created for the remainder of the first period, the score stayed goalless at halftime.
Samuel Nana came close to putting Casric ahead in the 50th minute as he forced Sipho Chaine into action at his near post to deny the winger.
The hosts should have netted in the 52nd minute as Mofokeng’s shot was spilt by goalkeeper Wandile Mthombeni into the path of de Jong. However, Mthombeni quickly made up for his mistake by denying the striker from close range with a strong one-handed save.
Five minutes later, Mofokeng could not get his free kick on the edge of the box to curl enough, sending it outside of the right post.
Moremi had a crack from the edge of the area two minutes later, dancing past defenders before sending his shot whiskers wide of the right upright.
Deon Hotto missed a golden opportunity to put the Bucs in front in the 73rd minute, sending his close range strike travelling across the face of goal.
Casric squandered an opportunity in the 78th minute from a free kick in a promising area. Siphosethu Meveni went for goal but failed to find the target, let alone put any pressure on Chaine between the posts.
The visitors kept their hopes alive in the 88th minute, as Casric captain Sphamandla Mlilo blocked Masindi Nemtajela shot from the penalty spot with an outstretched leg. A minute later, Pirates substitute Nkosikhona Ndaba played a cut back looking for Appollis in the box, but his pass was broken up by a sliding defensive effort from Meveni.
In stoppage time, Pirates nearly executed a well-worked free kick routine to perfection. Moremi darted down the box into space and was played in by Appollis. However, Moremi’s strike hit the crossbar.
Still goalless at the end of 90 minutes, the fixture was sent to extra time.
In the 99th minute, substitute Yanela Mbuthuma took too much time in the Casric box, allowing the defence to close down Appollis before he passed to him, forcing the winger to hurry his shot which was saved.
Mthombeni kept the visitors afloat in the 101st minute, denying substitute Kamogelo Sebelebele with a spectacular save at the near post.
Neither side was able to find the back of the net in the extra half-an-hour, sending the game to a penalty shootout.
With both captains shooting first, Sibisi missed the goal entirely while Mlilio netted. The teams each scored their next two before Casric substitute Manqoba Ozoemena has his shot saved to pull matters level.
Boths sides failed to score their next shots before netting the following ones. Ndaba’s effort skimmed off of the left upright and Zebulon Mtshweni netted past Chaine to break Buccaneers fans’ hearts.
Casric Stars will discover their quarterfinal opponent at the next round’s draw at the SuperSport studios in Randburg on Monday evening.
They will return to action in the Motsepe Foundation Championship against The Bees at the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium on Friday.
Pirates will shift their focus to what promises to be a high-stakes Soweto Derby against rivals Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Orlando Pirates 0 (4)
Casric Stars 0 (5)
Orlando Pirates: S. Chaine, N. Sibisi, M. Chabatsane, D. Hotto (N. Ndaba 79’), D. van Rooyen (K. Sebelebele 91’), M. Makhaula (A. Mariko 84’), M. Nemtajela, P. Maswanganyi (O. Appollis 63’), R. Mofokeng, T. Moremi (D. Msendami 106’), A. de Jong (Y. Mbuthuma 79’)
Casric Stars: T. Mthombeni, S. Meveni, T. Lekhatla, S. Mlilo, Z. Mtshweni, K. Mofokeng, K. Marebane (M. Ozoemena 120’), L. Makua (M. Thikazi 20’), S. Moukete (S. Msezane 64’, L. Skelem 106’), M. Zwane (T. Mogale 64’), S. Nana