Abdeslam Ouaddou made an immediate impact at Orlando Pirates after winning the MTN8 title following a 3-0 victory over Stellenbosch in the final at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After 90 minutes of goalless football, Tshepang Moremi opened the scoring in the 92nd minute and he sealed the win on 110 minutes after Tshegofatso Mabasa had doubled the Buccaneers’ advantage seven minutes earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As such, Pirates became the first team to successfully defend the trophy for a third straight year, with the Maroons coming up just short in back-to-back seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ouaddou’s side were looking to continue their recent dominance in the top-eight competition, while Stellies hoped they could take the next step after losing the 2024 final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pirates created the better chances in the first half and they threatened as early as the fifth minute when Thalente Mbatha fired wide after latching onto Deon Hotto’s chip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stage Stephens was called into action for the first time on 14 minutes as he stood firm to block Mbatha’s first-time volley from Sihle Nduli’s floated cross towards the back post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Soweto giants maintained the pressure and Sipho Mbule forced Stephens to turn his shot behind for a corner on 23 minutes before Relebohile Mofokeng tested the Maroons goalkeeper twice in the space of seven minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the score remained unchanged at the break, but Bucs were soon on the attack after the restart as Stephens made a comfortable save from Mbule’s deflected shot in the 49th minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steve Barker’s side almost broke the deadlock a minute later though, when Sanele Barns flashed an effort across the face of goal from a tight angle, while back up the other end Stephens pulled off a save at point-blank range to deny Evidence Makgopa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sipho Chaine made a routine save from Andre de Jong’s strike on 53 minutes after it took a telling touch off Mbekezeli Mbokazi and he was also required to keep out Barns on 70 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sea Robbers pushed for a winner in the closing stages, with Hotto drawing another save out of Stephens on 82 minutes before Tshepang Moremi directed a header wide from Appollis’ cross six minutes from time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There would be no breakthrough in regulation time, but Pirates hit the front just two minutes into extra time following a bit of magic from Appollis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former Polokwane City star delivered a delightful pass to Moremi from the right and the substitute stabbed the ball past Stephens from eight yards out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stephens had to be at his best to prevent Moremi from scoring again on 99 minutes, but Mabasa got the better of him just four minutes later to put Bucs 2-0 up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was game over on 110 minutes as Moremi found the back of the net once more to seal the victory, with Appollis racking up another assist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Orlando Pirates (0) 3 (Moremi 92′, 110′, Mabasa 103′)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Stellenbosch (0) 0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Abdeslam Ouaddou made an immediate impact at Orlando Pirates after winning the MTN8 title following a 3-0 victory over Stellenbosch in the final at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[70,56,71],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-mtn8","tag-orlando-pirates","tag-stellenbosch-fc"],"yoast_head":"\n