Sundowns end cup drought with MTN8 triumph over Orlando Pirates

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ExpandAubrey Modiba of Mamelodi Sundowns challenged by Kamogelo Sebelebele of Orlando Pirates during the 2026 MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on 10 October 2026. When this turbulent and exciting heavyweight bout finally came to an end under the warm and humid Durban sky, Mamelodi Sundowns finally had their first major domestic cup trophy since 2022.

It was a football match that did not follow the typical script of a cup final where players are usually afraid to make mistakes because it was played at a frantic pace as they went at each other.

There was even a moment just before halftime when tempers flared up with players at each other’s throats after Nuno Santos roughed up Yanela Mbuthuma and there were stunning moments from individual players.

The night belonged to Sundowns who are MTN8 champions for the first time since 2021 and this will probably serve as a massive morale booster as they landed a heavy blow to their rivals.

This is another marker for Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso who has delivered the league, the Champions League and now the MTN8 in this match that produced two penalties.

During this barren period of about five years without laying their hands on domestic silverware, the Brazilians enjoyed massive success in the league and the Champions League.

But, their supporters always nagged the players about domestic cup success and they finally delivered with this 2-0 win that was played in front of a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Sundowns made the end unnecessarily edgy as they wasted numerous good opportunities to seal the deal until Iqraam Rayners buried a late penalty to add to Teboho Mokoena’s first half opener.

Tashreeq Matthews was the man-of-the-match award but Ronwen Williams played a huge role with stunning saves in the closing stages and also saved a second-half penalty that could have dragged Pirates in the game.

Sundowns have also denied Pirates the opportunity of lifting this trophy for the fifth successive season and what could have been the second for their coach Abdeslam Ouaddou.

The last time the Brazilians supporters celebrated domestic cup success was when they beat Marumo Gallants in the Nedbank Cup final in May 2022 to complete a domestic treble.

Pirates started the brighter side by forcing Sundowns into defensive mistakes in their own half but the Buccaneers did not take full advantage of their early dominance.

During the opening five minutes where they were on the ascendency, they failed to register a shot on target and let Sundowns off the hook.

Pirates benefited from having experienced Sipho Chaine, Deon Hotto, Thalente Mbatha, Tshepang Moremi, who have been in these situations before.

They put Sundowns under early pressure because Mbatha and Thapelo Mokobodi settled first in the midfield and were able to release Kamogelo Sebelebele, Moremi and Lungu to threaten.

It was strange for Teboho Mokoena and Marcello Allende to take time to acclimatise and this put defenders Malibongwe Khoza, Khulumane Ndamane, Thabang Matuludi and Aubrey Modiba under pressure.

After a while, Sundowns got into the game and that was largely because Nuno Santos got more on the ball and was able to slow the game down in his playmaking role.

Football is strange and it was Sundowns who took the lead after eleven minutes through Mokoena, who was a doubt for this match after he got an injury with Bafana Bafana.

For the opener, the Pirates defence failed to deal with a dipping ball into the penalty box and went to Matuludi who laid it on the path of Mokoena to beat Chaine.

The goal gave Sundowns more momentum as Mokoena and Allende started to dictate terms in the midfield and this allowed Matuludi and Thapelo Morena on the right side to go forward.

On the left side, Modiba initiated forward and inverting runs which asked questions of Sebelebele who was forced to stay back and defend.

The other Pirates player who increasingly came under pressure was Seema as he was given problems by Brayan Leon who was getting enough supply from the wings.

Even though they were under pressure, Pirates had their attacking moments and they were nearly rewarded after 28 minutes when Seema delivered the ball to Sibisi but he could not connect.

It was end to end at this stage and Chaine produced two stunning saves in quick succession to deny Leon and Santos.

Pirates suffered a blow on the stroke of halftime when Sebelebele was stretchered off the field and he didn’t return from the break to be replaced by Oswin Appollis.

Cardoso also played his first card at the start of the second half by pulling out Modiba and introducing Divine Lunga and there were other substitutes later to introduce fresh legs.

Pirates got a penalty after 60 minutes when referee Abongile Tom judged Mokoena to have brought down Mbuthuma in the box and it looked like a harsh decision.

Lungu stood up to take it but Williams dived the right way and parried the ball to the upright and for safety as they kept their 1-0 lead.

There was another controversial Tom moment in the dying moments as he pointed to the spot when Siyanda Ndlovu went down and Rayners put this match beyond their opponents’ reach and they closed in on the elusive cop competition.

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