Monnapule Saleng gave Orlando Pirates more reason to celebrate their 85th anniversary with the striker’s exquisite free kick earning the Buccaneers a winner-takes-all R8m and their 11th top eight trophy.

Saleng’s 25th-minute strike was enough to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 victory over AmaZulu FC at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, beating a Durban side that was also looking to cap their 90th celebration with this MTN8 trophy.

For winning this gong for the fourth time (they won it in 2010, 2011 and 2020), Pirates will get to keep it forever in their cabinet as the current sponsors, who are celebrating 15 years with the PSL this season, have said the will design a new one for coming seasons.

The game was always tilted in Bucs’ favour, especially in the first 45 minutes when Usuthu keeper Veli Mothwa was the busiest.

Mothwa was, however, guilty of not reading Saleng’s free kick that hit the roof of the net, giving the Bucs striker his third goal in this tournament after scoring a brace in the semifinals where Bucs ousted defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns 3-0.

There were always fears that Pirates, despite being overwhelming favourites coming into this encounter, could disappoint their fans who filled this iconic Durban venue. Pirates had lost seven out of nine cup finals since 2013, three of them in Caf club competitions while the other four were in the domestic league.

They included a shock loss over Baroka FC in a Telkom Knockout final in Gqeberha in 2018. 

Bucs started better in this match with Saleng, Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo, Timm Miguel and Kermit Erasmus among the players that took the game to Usuthu.

Overall, though, this game lacked the spark associated with a final. Pirates decided to play deep into their own half in the second half, allowing AmaZulu to attack them as they had the ball.

AmaZulu substitutes Lehlohonolo Majoro and Dumsani Zuma gave their team more attacking options but Bucs just managed to keep their lead with their goalkeeper Richard Ofori managing to make a few telling saves.

Pirates coach Jose Riveiro made two forced changes from the team that lost 1-0 to Soweto rivals Kaizer Chiefs last week, goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane seemingly paying the price for his mistake that led to Yusuf Maart’s sole goal that saw Bucs lose the Soweto derby.

Bucs captain Innocent Maela also watched his team from the stands after failing a late fitness test after the injury he picked up in last week’s Soweto derby.

Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Ofori, who had missed Pirates last four matches due to injury, boosted his chances to represent his country at the Fifa World Cup in Qatar later this month while Thapelo Xoki took Maela’s place in a Pirates defence that started the match with three central defenders.

Usuthu had the privilege of being watched and supported by the newly-crowned Zulu king Misuzulu kaZwelithini as they attempted to win a second cup competition in SA football after last winning one 30 years ago when the king was just an 18-year-old prince, and their French-born coach Romain Folz just a two-year-old toddler. 

Though defeated, there was no denying that Usuthu were the better side in the last 45 minutes as they pinned Bucs down in their own half while they tried their best to create the openings. 

With no Caf commitments to worry about this season, Bucs will be expected to challenge for more honours in the PSL. But Pirates’ performance in this match and the fact they’ve already lost four league matches in 13 outing, suggests they will need to up their game and not rely solely on Saleng to give them a result as big as the one they got here.