How it unfolded
Pirates started the brighter side but were far from fluent. The breakthrough came just before the break in chaotic fashion. Durban City defender Brandon Poggenpoel picked up a second yellow card in the 35th minute and was sent off. Two minutes later Patrick Maswanganyi stepped up and coolly converted the resulting penalty to make it 1-0.
You would have expected a man advantage to settle the home side, but the second half told a different story. Just six minutes after the restart, poor defending allowed Gaston Sirino and Bandile Shandu to combine down the left. Sirino’s cut-back found Jean Lubumba, who finished neatly to level the scores at 1-1. Suddenly the ten men had belief, and the game became stretched and open.
Both sides had chances to win it in normal time, but the finishing was wasteful and the goalkeepers were solid when called upon. At the end of 90 minutes it remained 1-1, and extra time was required.
The decisive moment
With the game heading towards penalties, Abdeslam Ouaddou introduced Gamphani Lungu late in extra time. The substitute made an immediate impact. In the dying seconds he received the ball inside the area and struck a fierce, well-placed shot that found the net. Orlando Stadium erupted. Full-time: 2-1 to the Buccaneers.
What it means
This was not pretty, and it was far from comfortable, but it was classic cup resilience. Pirates had to dig deep after losing captain Nkosinathi Sibisi to injury at half-time and after squandering the numerical advantage. Ouaddou later praised the character of his squad and singled out the contributions of the substitutes — particularly Lungu, Thapelo Mokobodi and Simphiwe Masilela.
For Durban City, it was a brave performance. Even with ten men they refused to sit back and created enough problems to force extra time. Their coach Khalil Ben Youssef was gracious in defeat, even finding time to praise the referee, which is rare enough in South African football to be noteworthy.
The Buccaneers now wait to see who they will face in the semi-finals as they continue their defence of the MTN8 title. Another hard-fought afternoon in Soweto, another step closer to history.
Once Always.