Pirates' second goal v Stellies flagged

Retired referee Victor Hlungwani has provided an expert's verdict on Orlando Pirates' controversial second goal against Stellenbosch FC that saw their name engraved on the new MTN8 trophy.

History was made at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday night as Pirates romped to their third straight MTN8 title, winning 3-1 in a highly charged encounter.

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Lehlohonolo Mojela had opened the scoring for Steve Barker's men, before Monnapule Saleng brought the Soweto giants back into the game on the stroke of half-time.

However, with the match looked destined for extra time, a controversial call changed its trajectory.

Match official Abongile Tom allowed Pirates to take a quick free-kick metres forward from where the foul had taken place, the result of which was a Tshegofatso Mabasa goal in added time. 

Relebohile Mofokeng put the nail in the coffin, using sublime skill to leave two Stellies players on the floor before tapping into an empty net.

The debate on the second goal has dominated much of the post-match commentary from both fans and pundits, and speaking on SABC Sport's SoccerZone on Monday evening, Hlungwani explained why the goal should not have stood.

"Here, the law says the free-kick must be taken from where the offence occurred. Let's see if the free-kick was taken at the exact place where the infringement occurred.

"Barker said there was no foul, we can clearly show that there was a kicking [of] an opponent. So, there was a foul, we are happy with the foul.

"But let's look at the distance. Some say the referee was talking, talking to who? There is no one the referee is talking to here. The referee is indicating that the ball is going that way.

"Rele [Mofokeng] realised that, 'Hey, people are sleeping', and he took the ball to [Mabasa], who then scored.

"But the law says it must be taken from where the offence occurred. So, here it was not taken from where the offence occurred or within the radius, and that's where the problem is and that's why we are saying the referee should have put it back.

"So, this was an incorrect decision from the referee," explained the ex-PSL referee.

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Hlungwani, though, also added that Stellies' goal Mojela only stood at the discretion of the referee as defender Thabo Moloisane seemingly took a throw-in ahead of where the ball had gone out of play.

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