Bitter Orlando Pirates Fans Call for VAR After Controversial Maritzburg United Defeat

• The fallout continues following Maritzburg United's victory over Orlando Pirates last night in the DStv Premiership
• The People's Team edged the Buccaneers 1-0 courtesy of a highly controversial penalty late in the match
• This led to more calls for the Premier Soccer League to invest in the video assistant referee

Orlando Pirates supporters are in sour mood today.

This follows a disappointing 1-0 loss to Maritzburg United at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg last night. The loss saw their stay at the top of the DStv Premiership come to an end.

Amadou Soukou converted a controversial penalty in the 80th minute to settle what was an entertaining match. United's Siboniso Conco made the most of a touch from Pirates defender Olisa Ndah in the box, which saw the referee award the spot kick.

This decision has been met with outrage from Pirates supporters, while neutrals and rivals have been mixed in their reaction to it. There have been renewed calls for the introduction of the VAR in local football, for which the Premier Soccer League has a variety of answers to explain why it is not yet feasible.

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@BrianGatsheni1 said:

"Our standard of football will remain low when we still have referees that are incompetent. How do you give a penalty when a player was not even touched by a defender? VAR is needed in PSL."

@Muslim_Pulisic said:

"If VAR is introduced in the PSL, you know how many nil games are gonna be thereplease, No VAR."

Power outage disrupts Maritzburg United vs Orlando Pirates DStv Premiership match

The DStv Premiership match between Maritzburg United and Orlando Pirates was disrupted for a short while.

As reported by Sports Brief, the floodlights at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg went out halfway through the first half. It is believed that it might have been due to an unannounced bout of loadshedding.

However, it turns out that it was a simple power outage at the venue. The match had been deadlocked at 0-0 at the time of the incident. After a 12-minute wait, the electricity at the stadium started coming back on.