The Telkom Knockout quarter-finals thrilled the nation’s football-loving fans this weekend. THABANG KGELEDI takes a look at the take-aways from the exciting last eight clashes.

Trending Up: Orlando Pirates bounce back as fab four advance

After their devastating loss to SuperSport, Orlando Pirates bounced back with a good win over Highlands Park. Pirates were under intense scrutiny after their capitulation on Tuesday night and the resignation of Muhsin Etugral the next morning. It was a good start for caretaker coach Augusto Palacios in a match where the result mattered far more than the style in which it was achieved. The Bucs aren’t close to being the finished article yet, but they can take some positives from the victory. Tendai Ndoro continued his red-hot goalscoring form and every team needs a good forward to bang them in (ask Kaizer Chiefs). Thabo Rakhale and Luvuyo Memela played very well on the wings and had a few good chances they spurned, but they are a working towards something better.

The 10 men of SuperSport defended manfully to see off Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties. Stuart Baxter is getting the combinations right at Matsatsantsa as this victory is club’s fifth in a row across all competitions. His midfield duo of Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Dean Furman are starting to control every game they play in and his strikers are scoring too. In the past five games the men from Pretoria have scored 13 goals, an impressive average of 2.6 goals per game.

Free State Stars and Cape Town City are also through to the Telkom Knockout semi-finals. Both teams have been impressive in this year’s competition and deserve to be in the final four of the cup, and from here must be wondering if they can upset the odds and add silverware to their cabinets.

Trending Down: Top teams come up short

In the game of football, no result is guaranteed especially when it comes to knockout football in cup games. The CAF Champions League holders hosted neighbours SuperSport in the Tshwane derby, a fixture the Brazilians have dominated in the past.

Pitso Mosimane will have to think long and hard about what cost his side the victory in Atteridgeville – was it fatigue or was it overconfidence? They failed to punish Matsatsantsa who had defender Onismor Bhasera dismissed in the 61st minute as SuperSport held on for an hour to take the match into penalties. Their attack didn’t have that cutting edge and their defence was suspect. The victory in Africa’s tournament may have taken its toll on the squad and that could cost them in the league this season.

Mosimane will have to re-energise his troops following the international break as they face league and Club World Cup tests in December. He can’t afford to waste a minute …

Kaizer Chiefs were another big gun thrown by the TKO wayside after losing to Free State Stars on penalties. There was very little glamour from the Soweto giants in the first half as they failed to live up to expectations once again. The lack of goals could be having a crippling effect on the team’s mentality as confidence is king in football. It showed on William Twala’s face as he walked up nervously to take what would be the decisive penalty. His tame effort wouldn’t have troubled your local goalkeeper.

After a run of five wins from five games from the end of September to the beginning of October, it looked like Steve Komphela was finally turning the corner. Now it appears that it may not be the case. Komphela’s side remain blunt in attack and don’t look especially threatening when going forward. And, they have a mistake or two in them at the back in every match. It seems like all the issues we thought the coach had fixed still haven’t been solved …

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Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix