Pirates look to drive home advantage, Sundowns have it all to do against sharp Arrows

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/orlando-pirates/p4SF9EMI/"]Orlando Pirates[/a] lead [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sekhukhune/UySmgAPp/"]Sekhukhune United[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/orlando-pirates-p4SF9EMI/sekhukhune-UySmgAPp/?mid=8hoFedT1"]1-0[/a] from the first leg and host the Limpopo side on Saturday, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mamelodi-sundowns/lxZ6Bzh6/"]Mamelodi Sundowns[/a] have plenty of work to do after a shock [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/golden-arrows-C6CjDdNg/mamelodi-sundowns-lxZ6Bzh6/?mid=GxLZFQEG"]1-0[/a] home loss to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/golden-arrows/C6CjDdNg/"]Lamontville Golden Arrows[/a] in the first leg of their tie.[/p][p]Here is a quick guide to each of the semi-final teams ahead of the second legs.[/p][p] [/p][p][b]Dominant Pirates[/b][/p][p]Pirates have not lost an MTN8 semi-final tie since 2012 and their incredible success in this competition over the last few years has seen them lift the trophy in each of the previous four seasons.[/p][p]Take that back further and they have won it in five of the last six campaigns to become the dominant force in the MTN8.[/p][p]Since 2020, they have lost only two of their 23 MTN8 matches, and one of those did not matter in the end.[/p][p]They were beaten [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/orlando-pirates-p4SF9EMI/swallows-SnHWoCTb/?mid=CAdbtagi"]2-1[/a] at home by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/swallows-fc/SnHWoCTb/"]Moroka Swallows[/a] in the quarter-finals in 2021 in a surprise result and lost [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/orlando-pirates-p4SF9EMI/stellenbosch-fJsWcA5b/?mid=vs8NSaqg"]1-0[/a] on their own patch to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/stellenbosch-fc/fJsWcA5b/"]Stellenbosch FC[/a] in 2023 in the second leg of a semi-final tie, but still advanced on the away-goals rule.[/p][p]For the rest, they have 16 wins and five draws in that time.[/p][p]They extended their unbeaten run at the start of the season to six matches (W5 D1) with their midweek win over Sekhukhune, as the teams prepare to meet for a third time in a week.[/p][p]Pirates have scored 11 goals and conceded two. All the numbers continue to move in the right direction for coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ouaddou-abdeslam/zVIMcak1/"]Abdeslam Ouaddou[/a].[/p][image alt="Top XI of the MTN8" id="f83ef719-a825-4935-868c-8e37db656429" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="3c6ed68d-9e04-4c11-bdd1-48db636670cf" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]Sundowns’ poor domestic cup record[/b][/p][p]Mamelodi Sundowns have been surprisingly poor in the MTN8 down the years given their quality and have only four victories in the competition’s history, the last in 2021.[/p][p]That feeling was exacerbated by the shock 1-0 home loss to Golden Arrows last weekend, but they bounced back with a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/amazulu-4jYGJsW7/mamelodi-sundowns-lxZ6Bzh6/?mid=URkRuxQ9"]5-2[/a] success in the league against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/amazulu/4jYGJsW7/"]AmaZulu[/a].[/p][p]They have traditionally been slow starters to seasons, building up a head of steam for the second half of the campaign, but even so have been poor across all knockout competitions.[/p][p]In the period in which they won eight league titles in a row, as well as last season when they claimed the CAF Champions League title, they won just four domestic knockout competitions – the MTN8, the Nedbank Cup in 2020 and 2022, and the Telkom Knockout in 2019.[/p][p]As a club, they would have expected far greater success and, while they play more matches than most, in that time they have also had far greater squad depth to manage the heavy workload.[/p][p]They have won three of their last nine MTN8 fixtures, two of those in extra time, both against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/polokwane-city/ADz8rR88/"]Polokwane City[/a]. Their only resounding win in that time was a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/mamelodi-sundowns-lxZ6Bzh6/richards-bay-noDZhkBM/?mid=lSHmafBN"]4-0[/a] success against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/richards-bay/noDZhkBM/"]Richards Bay[/a] in the quarter-finals in 2025.[/p][p]Their setbacks in that period include a defeat to Stellenbosch FC, two penalty shoot-out losses to Orlando Pirates and last Sunday’s defeat to Golden Arrows.[/p][p]It has all been a bit scratchy, with only two clean sheets in their last 11 ties. It is a competition that seems to bring out the worst in the side for whatever reason.[/p][p]They have kept only one clean sheet in five games this season, against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/marumo-gallants/Gnghzo3C/"]Marumo Gallants[/a], conceding eight times, which is highly unusual.[/p][infobox id="6b26ac9e-516b-44ef-ae26-248d15bdf3de" /][p][b]Miserly Golden Arrows[/b][/p][p]Lamontville Golden Arrows are hoping to reach their first final since they were resounding champions in 2009 with a 6-0 hammering of Ajax Cape Town, still the biggest winning margin in a major domestic cup final.[/p][p]They go into this game on a remarkable run of nine consecutive clean sheets, five of which have come in games that ended 0-0. The others were a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/golden-arrows-C6CjDdNg/kaizer-chiefs-fFZ2CGx0/?mid=OtD2y7YR"]1-0[/a] win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kaizer-chiefs/fFZ2CGx0/"]Kaizer Chiefs[/a] in their MTN8 quarter-final, a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/chippa-utd-AiZa0UPS/golden-arrows-C6CjDdNg/?mid=6PVfpGfl"]2-0[/a] league win away at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chippa-utd/AiZa0UPS/"]Chippa United[/a], last Sunday’s 1-0 win over Sundowns and the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/golden-arrows-C6CjDdNg/stellenbosch-fJsWcA5b/?mid=zRHbNT9r"]1-0[/a] league win over Stellenbosch FC in midweek.[/p][p]Under coach Pitso Dladla, they have become tough to penetrate, but even before that, at the tail end of last season, they had built a formidable defence.[/p][p]The only player to score against them in their last 12 games – around 20 hours of football – is AmaZulu’s Sandile Mthethwa, at the start of May.[/p][p]It is a simply incredible record, though there will be no greater test than Sundowns’ array of attacking talent.[/p][image alt="Top scorers in the MTN8 this season" id="a3e96fc8-228c-4e07-b953-ea092a384a81" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="9611a6c5-55c7-4d00-bb11-3f0ce40f657f" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]Away-day blues[/b][/p][p]Sekhukhune will face Pirates for the third time in a week and we will see if they have learnt anything from their last two defeats.[/p][p]Their midweek [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/orlando-pirates-p4SF9EMI/sekhukhune-UySmgAPp/?mid=U7aXJf3j"]2-0[/a] loss in the league to the Buccaneers was preceded earlier in the month by a 2-0 defeat at Kaizer Chiefs, making Soweto a particularly unhappy hunting ground of late.[/p][p]Add a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/orlando-pirates-p4SF9EMI/sekhukhune-UySmgAPp/?mid=SzznluWS"]5-0[/a] away loss to Pirates in the MTN8 quarter-finals in 2023 and their memories of this particular away day are not good at all.[/p][p]Their only other away fixtures in the MTN8 came in a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/sekhukhune-UySmgAPp/stellenbosch-fJsWcA5b/?mid=UDHNcIsn"]2-0[/a] loss to Stellenbosch FC in 2025 and an epic [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/amazulu-4jYGJsW7/sekhukhune-UySmgAPp/?mid=jTEfwT3F"]4-3[/a] win at AmaZulu in the quarter-finals this season.[/p][p]But while they only trail 1-0, anything is possible.[/p][infobox id="584d9683-f419-4696-8cb3-c155213092a0" /]