Orlando Pirates thumped a blunt Golden Arrows in a 7-1 thriller at Orlando Stadium on Saturday evening much to the delight of their hard-to-please fans. Pirates were too strong for their visitors who are coached by Steve Komphela to end their three-match unbeaten run in the league.
The Soweto giants were too sharp and showed aggression to return to winning ways after a loss to Sekhukhune United and a draw to Moroka Swallows. Pirates coach Jose Riveiro was happy to secure the maximum points at home but there is no doubt that he wants to see consistency from his troops.
Pirates Show Arrows No Mercy in Soweto
The heavens were pouring before kick-off and it blessed Pirates home, eSgodni with four goals under the lights at Orlando where Arrows produced a shambolic 90 minutes of play. As the home side, Pirates raced into a three-goal lead after just over half an hour with Tshegofatso Mabasa, Relebohile Mofokeng, and Kabelo Dlamini finding the net.
In the dying stages of the clash in Soweto, substitutes Sandile Mthethwa and Karim Kimvuidi completed the rout for Pirates while Lungelo Nguse scored the consolation for the reeling Arrows. Resulting from the big win for the Black and White, Pirates now sit third with 37 points from 23 league games.
Pirates Coach on Hattrick Hero and Big Win
With Mabasa netting his first hat trick of the season, Riveiro was left pleased and believed his hitman had a chance to challenge for the Golden Boot Award. The Limpopo-born forward, Mabasa now has 13 goals and two assists in 23 games across all competitions this season for both Swallows and Pirates respectively.
“Like every other player [Mabasa is the same] confidence and continuity it is key to performing, sometimes we’re not fair when we give one game in isolation, it’s not going to tell you the truth about the player,” Riveiro said after the game.
“So the moment that you… first of all, if you’re playing regularly, it means that confidence is in you, from everyone around you and football form usually comes with competition. If now we speak positions like Tshego’s position, a specialist. Even though the role of the goalkeeper is now much bigger than before, they have to contribute and do a lot of things – like I said a few weeks ago, Tshego, like all other strikers in the squad as a player, helps the team play better.”
“He has also the capacity to score goals like the rest of our strikers, so absolutely yes, to answer your question, but again, confidence continuity, have the opportunity to repeat in the starting eleven, or close to repeating the starting eleven like today. We could play nine players coming from the Swallows game, will always help to find better chemistry on the field and today is a good example of that.”
Pirates: What’s Next for the Buccaneers
Up next for the reigning MTN8 champions is a big encounter in the Nedbank Cup against AmaZulu away in Durban. The two Premier Soccer League giants will battle it out for a spot in the semi-finals at Moses Mabhida Stadium. The eagerly anticipated clash will be staged on April 13 and gets underway at 18:00.
Related: Chiefs vs Chippa Review: Lacklustre Amakhosi Suffer Another Defeat
