ORLANDO Pirates goalkeeper Felipe Ovono cost his side a place in the MTN8 Cup semifinals as he made two silly mistakes that allowed Bidvest Wits to come back from a goal down and beat his side 2-1 at Milpark’s Bidvest Stadium last night.
The Equatorial Guinea international broke Bucs fans hearts when he conceded a goal in each half to end coach Muhsin Ertugral’s hopes of winning his first trophy in charge of the club.
Ovono made a huge blunder in the 37th minutes when he held Buhle Mkhwanazi’s header and crossed the goal-line to give Wits the equaliser that cancelled out Oupa Manyisa’s lead from the penalty spot.
Ovono seems to have slipper hands as he gifted Wits defender Thulani Hlatshwayo the second goal from rebound in the 76th minutes after he had spilt Thabang Monare’s shot.
The victory has increased Wits coach Gavin Hunt’s chances of winning the trophy for the first time, while Ertugral has now failed to lift the trophy for the second time having won with Kaizer Chiefs in 2001.
Ertugral made two changes to the side that thrashed Golden Arrows 3-1 in their opening Absa Premiership match on Wednesday.
His new recruit Abbubaker Mobara finally made his debut in place of Happy Jele who was relegated to the stands together with winger Bernard Morrison who was replaced by Riyaad Norodien.
The Turkish born mentor showed his trust on youngster Thembela Sikhakhane who retained his right-back position after he displayed a sterling performance against his former club Arrows.
On the other hand, Hunt also made two changes to the side that beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in their first league match at the same venue on Tuesday.
He preferred striker Mogakolodi Ngele ahead of Elias Pelembe who was on the bench, while Cuthbert Malajila started in place of Eleazar Rodgers.
Wits deserve the victory as they kept Pirates on the back-foot in both halves forcing them to concede a lot of corners.