Kaizer Chiefs will meet Orlando Pirates in 2011 MTN8 Final

The Soweto giants won the two-legged cup tie with the Brazilians 4-3 (the first leg last weekend ended 3-2 in Pirates’ favour) and have kept up their hopes of defending the first of the three trophies they won last season.

Though the match at Loftus paled in comparison to last weekend’s five-goal thriller at Orlando Stadium, it was still an intriguing battle and featured two well taken goals from Elias Pelembe and Oupa Manyisa in the second half.

In a goalless first half, the visitors did well to stifle Sundowns’ creative midfielders Musa Nyatama and Teko Modise, which cut out the supply to Elias Pelembe and striker Katlego Mphela.

Bucs were generally content to sit deep but they still offered more of an attacking threat than Downs, with the pace of wingers Tlou Segolela and Dikgang Mabalane providing the perfect platform for counter attacks.

After the break the game opened up much more, especially as Sundowns finally moved up through the gears and took charge of midfield.

On 63 minutes the Brazilians finally broke the deadlock, with Pelembe coolly finishing from inside the box after exchanging passes with Lebohang Mokoena.

With Sundowns now having the edge on away goals, Pirates were forced to come out of their shell and they duly drew level on 70 minutes through an early contender for goal of the season from Manyisa.

The midfielder picked up a clearance from a corner-kick about 40 metres from goal and proceeded to send a phenomenal long-range shot beyond the reach of Wayne Sandilands to make it 1-1 on the day and 4-3 on aggregate.

Sundowns threw numbers forward in the dying minutes in an effort to back in front – and left themselves open to counter-attacking opportunities that Bucs were not able to take advantage of – but there were no further goals.