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In a day of mixed results for Soweto’s soccer giants, Kaizer Chiefs suffered their first Absa Premiership defeat of the season, while Orlando Pirates registered a rare win today.
It took Jabulani Maluleke’s successful conversion from a penalty kick in the first half to ensure Polokwane City left FNB Stadium three points richer with the 1-0 victory, subsequently ending Amakhosi’s unbeaten run of four league game wins.
Earlier in the day, just a few kilometres away in Orlando, the football gods eventually smiled on Pirates’ interim head coach Rhulani Mokwena as his side finally handed him a maiden victory after four games in the hot seat, which he took up following the abrupt departure of Milutin Sredojevic in the middle of last month.
Bucs’ 2-1 win over Chippa United arrested a winless run of six games in all competitions since the start of the new season.
The triumph, courtesy of a Tshegofatso Mabasa brace in the space of five minutes in the early stages of the second half, was only the second time Pirates accumulated maximum points since their 3-1 thrashing of Bloemfontein Celtic at home on August 3.
It has been weeks of struggles for Mokwena and his side, who have already been eliminated from two competitions – the CAF Champions League and the MTN8 – in the opening two months of this campaign.
On the flip side, the defeat means the Chilli Boys continue to chase an elusive league victory, with three draws and two defeats in five games.
The just-concluded international break seems to have done the trick for Pirates, who proved to have polished up their attacking play, even though they went four official domestic matches without a goal.
Mokwena again came into yesterday’s match with a tweaked starting line-up, notably in goal, where he handed former French youth international goalkeeper Joris Delle his debut ahead of Wayne Sandilands, who had started in all the team’s league matches so far this season.
Delle (29), who was signed in June, acquainted himself well with firm handling, while his command of the goal area, as well as his distribution of the ball, also left an impression. He could not be faulted for Chippa’s consolation goal late in the game, after his initial save from a free kick was tapped home by Lerato Manzini from a rebound.
The first half was not a good show, with both teams often promising when they surged forward but failing to follow through.
Pirates star Thembinkosi Lorch was a threat as usual, exploiting spaces like a seasoned pickpocketer at a busy train station, but his team-mates spoiled the many efforts by the Bafana Bafana midfielder.
The biggest miss of the opening half came from Mabasa, who shot straight at the keeper after he was set through by Xola Mlambo eight minutes into the game.
His miss highlighted the story for Bucs in the final third, where numerous balls went astray despite promising build-ups in a game where the intention was to press the visitors high up.
Pirates came out a different animal after the break, and Mabasa converted a well-timed pass by Siphesihle Ndlovu in the 55th minute, before the former Celtic striker capitalised on a defensive blunder for his brace on the hour mark.
The visitors had a few shots from long range on target that were dealt with by Delle, who went on to pull off some game-saving stops in the dying minutes.
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