Mofokeng's away goal gives Pirates slight advantage against Cape Town City in MTN8 semifinals

It remains to be seen how critical Relebohile Mofokeng's goal will be for Orlando Pirates after they played to a 1-1 draw against Cape Town City in the first leg of their MTN8 semifinal at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday evening.

If the game ends goalless  in the second leg, hosted by Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Saturday, Mofokeng’s goal will take his side to the final, giving Bucs a chance of becoming the first team to win this competition three times in a row.

Mofokeng continued to underline why he’s become such an important player for Pirates with his 15th-minute strike giving Jose Riveiro’s charges an away goal advantage. 

The goal was not easy to score as the 19-year-old winger still had to beat former Bafana Bafana stalwart right-back Thamsanqa Mkhize after receiving a good diagonal pass from defender Thabiso Sesane.

With Mkhize well beaten, Mofokeng then put the ball behind the reach of City goalkeeper Darren Keet, who could not stop the strike despite the ball touching his gloves on the way to the back of the net, giving Bucs the lead.

City were not completely out of this match, especially in a lively first-half in which they forced Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine to make two stupendous saves off Prins Tjiueza and Jaedin Rhodes shots.

Mofokeng’s goal was, however, cancelled by Jaedin Rhodes in the 61st minute, as City capitalised on starting the second-half the better side. Rhodes made no mistake just after the hour mark, latching on to a loose ball and beating Chaine with a powerful shot taken from inside the area after the Pirates’ defence failed to clear Tshegofatso Nyama’s long ball. 

City pushed for a win after getting the equaliser, but Pirates managed to just hold them off as the Soweto side looked to finish stronger after making a few changes.