Orlando Pirates playmaker Patrick Maswanganyi has explained why he believes they were 'lucky' to defeat SuperSport United in the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup in Polokwane.
The Soweto giants needed a penalty shootout to overcome SuperSport after the match had ended 2-2 following 120 minutes of football.
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The shootout itself was a nervy affair, but Pirates prevailed with a 5-4 scoreline.
Maswanganyi, who sustained an injury during a league match against Cape Town City recently, marked his comeback as he was introduced in the 70th minute for Mohau Nkota.
'Tito', as he is affectionately known, was among the kickers in the shootout and scored as teammate Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo, as well as Matsatsantsa duo Vincent Pule and Christian Saile, all had their efforts saved.
"I think it's all about fighting together, not giving up," said Maswanganyi.
"We know sometimes in football you are not always going to have your best game and I think this is one of those games where we felt like we could have done more but we didn't.
"We had opportunities to finish the game in the first half and we had opportunities to make sure we wrap up this game... but it's football.
"We were just lucky to go to penalties. I think they had better chances than us to score in the later stages of the match.
"I think it's something we can learn from going forward to another game," he added.
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The Houghton-based outfit now have Betway Premiership matters to take care of as they trail log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by 16 points but have four games in hand.
A wounded Stellenbosch FC, knocked out of the cup by Kaizer Chiefs, lie in await at Athlone Stadium on Tuesday (19:30).