Head coach Jose Riveiro had plenty of praise for talisman Monnapule Saleng who opened the scoring for Orlando Pirates as they came from behind to defeat Stellenbosch in the MTN8 Final.
The Buccaneers made history as the first South African club to win the MTN8 title for three consecutive seasons when they overcame Stellies at a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday night.
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Lehlohonolo Mojela opened the scoring Winelands-based outfit before Saleng pounced on a rebound from a Deon Hotto free-kick to level matters in the first half.
The match looked destined for extra time until a controversial call from match official Abongile Tom to allow Pirates to take a quick free-kick that saw Mabasa slam the ball past Sage Stevens in added time.
Mofokeng turned provider to goal scorer with a third in the last seconds of the match.
The build-up to the encounter was dominated by the possibility of Saleng being unavailable for the fixture as the 26-year-old had not trained with the team during the week in a bid to recover from a knock.
Saleng trained on Friday but it was enough to convince Riveiro to start the speedy winger against Stellies.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Riveiro said he was pleased to have Saleng ready for the match
"He (Saleng) is very important obviously, he managed to score one more time, he was a permanent threat during the 90 minutes," Riveiro said.
"He never gets tired, he is a threat after five minutes and after 90 minutes. So yes, it was a difficult week for the boy to make it possible but in the end, we managed to have him here and be part of this MTN8 Final."
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Saleng's goal was a sixth goal in the MTN8 competition, more than any other Pirates player has managed in the history of the cup competition.
It also extended Saleng's record of being on the winning side of every match he has scored in for Pirates.