Larsen’s tactical masterclass in CKO final to remember

The supporters of the now-defunct Bloemfontein Celtic FC turned out in numbers to cheer for the team of their former coach Clinton Larsen.

A few years ago, Bloemfontein Celtic slayed the mighty Sundowns while Larsen was at the helm on various occasions, including a 5-0 league thrashing in an away match.

On Saturday, they cheered Larsen’s Magesi from start to finish and this support at Free State Stadium helped to bring about the demise of the mighty Sundowns. This was one of five takeaways from Saturday’s Carling Cup final in Bloemfontein.

1 Top dogs Pirates and Sundowns sent packing

A team like Magesi FC which defeats the PSL Premiership’s strongest teams Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns in a cup competition deserves to be a winner. As expected, Pirates and Sundowns were overwhelming favourites, but Magesi tactician Clinton Larsen had carefully plotted their downfall. Who would forget Magesi running Pirates ragged in the first half to take an unbelievable 3-0 lead in the opening round fixture? Try as they might, Pirates lost after only scoring two second-half goals. In the final, Sundowns held a 1-0 half time lead, but Larsen changed the team's second-half approach and the mighty Sundowns had no response, losing 2-1.

2 Possession counts for nothing

With the talent and resources Sundowns have, they are expected to win every game they play in, and rightfully so. This club can buy almost any local player they wish for and has done so many times in past seasons. The club also made useful international buys like Chilean Marcelo Allende and Lucas Ribeiro, the Brazilian playmaker. Against Pirates and Sundowns, Magesi enjoyed just a fraction more than 20% of possession over 90 minutes, but it was enough to dump South Africa's most fancied club sides on the Carling Knockout also-rans scrapheap.

3 Mngqithi: ‘Pirates struggle to beat small teams', and so does Sundowns!

Last month, Manqoba Mngqithi was asked to reflect on the prospects of Orlando Pirates in this season's Betway Premiership race. Mngqithi was talking after Sundowns won 2-1 against Royal AM.

“I still maintain that they are a team that does not do well against small teams.” This comment was based on Pirates' first-round Carling KnockOut loss to Magesi. The stats show that Sundowns also struggle against small teams. In the semi-final, Marumo Gallants, despite a meagre 39% possession, had more shots at goal than Sundowns (14-11). In the matches against Gallants (11-6) and Magesi (16-10), Sundowns had a higher foul count. That stat suggests Sundowns were battling to contain their opponents and fouls became a necessary tool in their arsenal.

4 Lesson for Mngqithi: Defence rather than attack wins Cup matches

In the post-match interview after Saturday’s final, Mngqithi pointed out that his team scored 12 goals and only conceded two. Before Saturday’s final, Sundowns had three clean sheets (5-0 Arrows, 4-0 Chiefs, 2-0 Gallants). Saturday's defeat was the third successive defeat in the domestic cup finals despite their overwhelming dominance in the league. There has to be a lesson for Mngqithi. It goes; defence rather than attack wins Cup matches. In the four Carling Knockout rounds Magesi scored seven goals and conceded three to the two best defences in the leagues (3-2 Pirates, 2-1 Sundowns). It is these facts that Mngqithi finds hard to understand but perhaps he can take comfort from his post-match reasoning; “sometimes you lose matches you don't deserve to lose, and sometimes you win matches that you don't deserve to win.”

5 Larsen continues to be Sundowns' nemesis

For the second time in 12 years, Larsen delivered the knockout punch to floor Sundowns in a cup final. In December 2012, Larsen guided Bloemfontein Celtic to the Telkom Knockout championship after a 1-0 victory over Sundowns in the final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. In April 2015, the Larsen-coached Bloemfontein Celtic shocked Sundowns 5-0 in an Absa Premiership clash in their backyard at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. After warning his charges about the Larsen factor, Mngqithi said: “I never leave any stone unturned when it comes to these matches because where everybody expects you to win.” Clearly, Mngqithi did leave stones unturned.