Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo has explained why he believes an Orlando Pirates attacker deserves more credit for his part in the CAF Champions clash against MC Alger.
Although they failed to find the back of the net in the second leg, Pirates progressed to the semi-finals of the continental competition on aggregate, having won the first leg 1-0 in Algeria.
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The second leg was a much cagier affair with the Soweto giants settling for just 36% of overall ball possession.
Chances were hard to come by for both sides, with the Algerians landing just one shot on target and Bucs two.
One of those was a glorious chance that fell onto the feet of substitute Tshegofatso Mabasa, but he struck the post - much to the frustration of The Ghost.
Reviewing the match on SABC Sport's Soccer Zone, Doc argued that despite last season's Golden Boot winner not finding the back of the net, it still was a moment of brilliance.
"Look at where the ball is, look at how he controls it," raved Khumalo.
"The beauty about this is that the keeper has closed the near post. Mabasa is left-footed. He doesn't turn using his right foot. He turns on the left. He can't play it there (on the near post) because the keeper is there. He needs to go to the far post.
"The unfortunate part is that it hit the pole. But I thought that was a brilliant idea and it was individual brilliance. Unfortunately, people might think otherwise because when you do that in South Africa, people say you don't know football.
"That was a brilliant idea because it needed an immediate decision because in that moment, you can't look and say: 'Oh, here is the keeper, let me look where I'm going to score'. No, no, no, it needed an immediate decision.
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"That is individual brilliance. He was unlucky. That was an unlucky situation for Mabasa. It was the only option he had," explained the 1996 AFCON winner.
Mabasa has contributed 13 goals across all competitions this season but has not registered a goal since the end of February, and will be hoping to end that drought when his side meet Marumo Gallants in the semi-final of the Nedbank Cup at Orlando on Sunday (18:00).
