Bloemfontein Celtic and Orlando Pirates meet in Saturday MTN8 final, and while they have only met twice before in the MTN8, the clubs have a long head-to-head history.
As two of the older clubs in South African professional football, they have quite a long history of playing against each other and have actually met in 78 games over the past 35 years.
Pirates have dominated the encounters with 40 wins, while Celtic have won 17, and there have been 21 draws.
In recent history Pirates have dominated the head-to-head, and they have already met this season in the league, where Pirates came out 1-0 winners.
Though Celtic have picked up the occasional win over the years.
Co-incidentally, the scorers in Celtic’s last two wins are both now Pirates players. The last victory came in 2018/2019 when Bongani Sam scored in a 1-0 win. The victory prior to that was also a 1-0 win, in 2013/2014, and on that occasion it was Gabadinho Mhango on the scoresheet.
They have only met twice before in the MTN8.
In 2005 Celtic were victorious in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals, after they drew 1-1. Celtic went on to win the cup. It is also the last time they reached the final.
In 2012 an Andile Jali penalty handed Pirates a 1-0 win in the last eight.
Nine-time winners Pirates last won the cup in 2001, and have been in two finals since, though their last final appearance was in 2014.
Pirates biggest win over Celtic was 4-0 (1999/2000), while Celtic beat Pirates 5-0 in 1992 for their record.
Celtic’s form this season has been inconsistent, they have played 10 games, won 4, lost 4 and drawn 2.
On the other hand Pirates are unbeaten this season, with five wins and four draws. Their form in 2020 has been excellent and in their last 29 games in all competitions, they have lost just twice.
