Orlando Pirates powered through a tricky test at Moses Mabhida Stadium, beating Lamontville Golden Arrows 2-1 to take all three Betway Premiership points on Tuesday night.
The victory brought up back-to-back away wins for the visitors, who crossed the 50-point mark with 23 matches played in the current Premiership campaign. They extended the misery of the hosts, who slumped to a third consecutive loss to remain near the bottom of the standings in 14th place.
Sporting several changes from the side that triumphed in the weekend’s Soweto Derby, plenty was demanded from the Bucs defence early on as the home side came out guns blazing. Goalkeeper Melusi Buthelezi was called upon to make a couple of stops in the opening three minutes, keeping out Nhlanhla Zwane’s shot from the left flank before getting a crucial touch to knock a threatening cross from the right out of Velemseni Ndwandwe’s reach.
Bandile Shandu spurned an opportunity when the action swiftly shifted to the other end of the pitch, hooking his shot well off target after getting on the end of a clever flick from Patrick Maswanganyi. The Bucs playmaker was again in the heat of the action, playing a lovely cutback towards Kabelo Dlamini, whose effort from the edge of the box met an unkind deflection amid a sea of green shirts inside the penalty area.
That initial wave of attack proved to be a rare bright period for Pirates, with Arrows grabbing the reins for much of the first half. The hosts camped inside the Buccaneers’ half, getting close to opening the scoring through a couple of wide attempts from Zwane and Siyanda Mthanti.
The former had a shot on target around the half-hour mark, with the help of a deflection which made things slightly trickier for Buthelezi. The shot-stopper was however equal to the task, crouching low to make a fairly comfortable save.
A few half chances landed the way of the Soweto Giants late in the opening half, but they were not able to capitalise as things remained deadlocked on the halfway mark. The scoreline only remained that way for only five minutes after the restart, as Pirates found the bit of clinical play that had eluded them in the previous half.
They edged ahead when a defence-splitting pass from Dlamini found Maswanganyi who rounded goalkeeper Edward Maova to set himself up for a clear shot at goal, making no mistake as he slotted home with his left foot.
It could have been 2-0 not long after, as Shandu connected with an excellent long ball from replacement midfielder Simphiwe Selepe before knocking the ball over the crossbar.
Pirates would live to regret that moment, with the home side drawing level in the next minute. Their goal came off the boot of Siyanda Mthanti, who finished on the near post after running onto a cross from Ndwandwe.
Chances at goal were scant in the following 10 minutes, which featured a few physical confrontations with Karim Kimvuidi and Paseka Mako falling on the receiving end of a few reckless challenges.
The set piece resulting from the latter foul led to an opportunity as the home side failed to clear convincingly. Pirates kept the ball alive, with Mbekezeli Mbokazi finding Tshegofatso Mabasa inside the box, and the striker volleyed into the back of the net to make it 2-1 in the 72nd minute.
Following his first league assist, the young centre-back spotted an opportunity to get his name on the scoresheet in the last 10 minutes. This was when he made a strong run down the middle of the pitch, unleashing a powerful shot which stung Maova’s gloves. His was not the only Bucs chance in the dying moments as Dlamini set up Mabasa with three minutes left to play, with the striker’s attempt going narrowly wide.
Buthelezi was called upon late in injury time, diving low to keep out a shot that had the potential to deny the visitors maximum points. That turned out to be the home side’s best chance at salvaging something from the contest, with Pirates doing enough to prevail in the first of two must-win fixtures in Durban.
Pirates XI: Buthelezi, Xoki, Mbokazi, Van Rooyen (Ndlozi 74’), Madiba (Nkota 74’), Makhaula (Selepe 46’), Dlamini, Maswanganyi, Shandu (Mako 61’), Kimvuidi, Radiopane (Mabasa 61’).
