Pirates in Nedbank Cup’s last 16 after beating amateurs Crystal Lake 6-0

Orlando Pirates kicked off their defence of the Nedbank Cup with a 6-0 thrashing of amateur side Crystal Lake FC at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.

First-half goals by Olisah Ndah, Tapelo Xoki (penalty), Relebohile Mofokeng and Patrick Maswanganyi cemented Pirates' passage into the last 16 of the competition they won for the ninth time after beating Sekhukhune United in last year's final.

Jose Riveiro, the Pirates coach, started with a strong line-up and the third-tier side from Thulamahashe in Mpumalanga struggled to produce anything crystal from the word go. Pirates opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute when the home side failed to clear a corner kick.

Bafana Bafana striker Evidence Makgopa was hacked by Maxwell Thethe inside the area and Xoki made no mistake from the spot to make 2-0 in the eighth minute before Mofokeng and Maswanganyi took their team to halftime leading 4-0 as they scored in the 11th and 33rd minutes respectively after some good build-up. 

The Buccaneers continued where they left off after the restart, adding two goals through Xoki, who completed his brace in the 51st minute off Maswanganyi's corner, and Bucs returnee Tshegofatsho Mabasa made it 6-0 from another Maswanganyi corner.

Pirates joined Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport United, Sekhukhune FC, Stellenbosch FC, University of Pretoria, TS Galaxy and AmaZulu FC in the next round.

Richards Bay were set to host Polokwane City in a late game on Saturday at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi while Moroka Swallows v Platinum City Rover, Ravens v Spain and JDR Stars v Hungry Lions all went to extra-time on Saturday.

Four more last-32 matches will be played on Sunday, with Kaizer Chiefs' clash against Motsepe Foundation Championship side Milford FC from KwaZulu-Natal the main attraction at the FNB Stadium.

The draw for the last 16 will conducted in Johannesburg on Monday night.