Sundowns, Pirates play to cracking but goal-less draw in MTN8 'Star Derby' semi-final

At the Orlando Stadium

Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns played to a goalless draw of more than reasonable quality when they met in their MTN8 first leg semi-final at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

This tournament, the easiest one to win on the SA football calendar, has been routinely soiled by early exits by the big teams.

RECAP | MTN8 semi-final | Orlando Pirates v Mamelodi Sundowns

Sundowns, the defending champions and Pirates, who won the title the season before, served up a game that lacked goals, but was high in tactical quality.

The game was the first between the respective South African CAF Champions League winners (the reason why the game is called the "Star Derby") with a crowd since early 2020.

That game was won 1-0 by Pirates through a Gabadinho Mhango goal, but Sundowns have extended their dominance to a point where they've won their last five games against Pirates convincingly.

That Pirates head to the second leg having not conceded puts them in the pound seats as the away goals rule works in their favour.

Did they deserve to win the game? Maybe, but they couldn't quite get the better of Sundowns' organised defence.

Sundowns weren't quite played off the park, but counterpunched in a quietly classy manner that will give Pirates some sleepless nights when they meet again on 22 October.

In what was a glaring, but equally beautiful departure from the sparsely attended Bafana games last week was the packed ground.

That the game also started on time was also down to unusual punctuality that saw two-thirds of the stadium filled out before kick-off.

While there were small, unruly elements (some tried their hardest to worm their way into the press seating while a fan was ejected for fighting at half-time), the fans were