Pirates power past All Stars and into Nedbank Cup last 16

All Stars are a top-six side in the Motsepe Foundation Championship and did not go down without a fight, but Pirates' class shone through during a dominant second half that saw them take full control.

Pirates coach Jose Riviero handed former Cape Town City man Craig Martin his first start, while recalling Sandile Mthethwa and Terrence Dzvukamanja to the starting line-up.

The Buccaneers did not get off to the greatest start when Goodman Mosele appeared to injure himself after an attempted pass, leading to an early substitution for Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo.

Hopes that the Bucs would make light work of their Championship opponents failed to materialise early on, although the first real chance did fall to the visitors just before the half-hour mark when Monnapule Saleng's angled strike forced a smart save out of Stars goalkeeper Ayanda Mtshali.

Stars were no slouches either, however, making their presence felt at the other end of the pitch on more than one occasion.

Pirates thought they had the lead just before half-time when Kabelo Dlamini won a free-kick on the edge of the area and Sandile Mthethwa bundled in the ensuing shot, but the offside flag intervened to cut short the celebrations.

The second half saw Riviero make a change as he brought on Thembinkosi Lorch to try and inject some fresh blood on the pitch, a move that would soon pay dividends.

Just after the hour mark, Pirates finally got the goal they were looking for when Saleng was given a second chance to shoot and buried the ball in the back of the net, after some great interplay from Terrence Dzvukamanja, Deon Hotto and Lorch in the build-up.

Pirates were in total control now and less than 10 minutes later they doubled their lead when the ball fell kindly in the path of Lorch, who was waiting to drill it home from the center of the box to make it 2-0.

There was no way back for All Stars from there, as Pirates hung on for the convincing win to keep their Nedbank Cup trophy hopes alive.