Sundowns robbed? Pirates penalty investigated

Orlando Pirates' penalty against Mamelodi Sundowns in the final of the Nedbank Cup should not have been awarded, according to renowned former referee Victor Hlungwani.

Goals came from Themba Zwane, who opened the scoring early in the second half, before Pirates equalized through Maswanganyi, when he was adjudged to have been fouled inside the area by Aubrey Modiba. 

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'Tito' stepped up himself to take the spot kick and sent Ronwen Williams the wrong way to bring the Soweto giants back into the match.

Rising star Relebohile Mofokeng scored the winner in added time.

Reviewing the match on SABC Sport's SoccerZone, Hlungwani explained why the call from the match official was incorrect.

"Football is not tennis, where you play alone, [in football] you play with others.

"Now where there is a collision, where players are looking at the ball and they collide, there is no offence committed.

"Here we see Maswanganyi, the ball is in the air, no one has the ball. Maswanganyi goes in there into Modiba, they collide.

"If you say there's a push there, where is the push? We can't find the push.

"Where's holding because holding must have an impact? So, there's no pushing or holding because holding must have an impact. Here it would be... this should be a normal challenge in football where the game would be allowed to continue. Unfortunately, [the] referee gave a penalty, which was incorrect."

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This is of small comfort to Rulani Mokwena, who expressed his unhappiness with the officiating on the day in the post-match press conference, doubling down on his stance that an incorrect decision had been made regards the penalty. 

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