The Buccaneers boosted their hopes of challenging for this season’s PSL title by defeating the Free State giants
Orlando Pirates secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic in a PSL encounter at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Man of the Match Fortune Makaringe scored the only goal of the match in the second half in a game which saw former Pirates striker Ndumiso Mabena sent off in the first-half.
Going into the match, the Buccaneers were enjoying a six-match unbeaten run across all competitions, having defeated Maritzburg United 3-1 in the Nedbank Cup Last 16 clash over the weekend.
Kabelo Dlamini, who netted against Maritzburg after coming on as a substitute, was rewarded with a starting berth as coach Josef Zinnbauer made one change to the starting line-up.
On the other hand, Phunya Sele Sele were winless in two matches, having succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to TS Galaxy in a PSL encounter last week.
Justice Chabalala, who is on loan from Pirates, made his return to the starting line-up for Celtic and coach John Maduka deployed Mabena and Victor Letsoalo as out-and-out strikers.
Celtic sat back and allowed Pirates to control the match, with the visitors looking to exploit the Soweto giants’ defence on the flanks through pacey wingers Menzi Masuku and Sifiso Ngobeni.
The Buccaneers struggled to penetrate the Phunya Sele Sele defence and they resorted to playing crosses into the box, but goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane dealt well with the aerial balls.
Bucs upped the tempo towards half-time as they unsettled the Celtic defence with their pace down the wings and Vincent Pule’s cross was acrobatically placed over the crossbar by Deon Hotto.
The ball then fell kindly for Siphesihle Ndlovu in the box and the Pirates defender-come-midfielder forced Mabokgwane into a fine diving save with a curling shot.
Celtic were reduced to 10 players on the stroke of half-time when Mabena was shown a straight red card after making a dangerous tackle on Linda Mntambo and the score was 0-0 at the interval.
Phunya Sele Sele launched attacks in the second-half despite being numerically disadvantaged and Letsoalo was denied at the near post by goalkeeper Richard Ofori after a quick counter-attack by the visitors.
Lucky Baloyi had a glorious opportunity to score after he found himself in a one-on-one situation with Ofori, who pulled off a fantastic save to deny the former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder.
This served as a wake-up call for Pirates and they broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute through Makaringe, who cut inside before beating Mabokgwane with a low shot to make it 1-0 to Pirates.
The Buccaneers took the foot off the pedal after taking the lead and they allowed Phunya Sele Sele to launch attacks, but they could not seriously test Ofori in the hosts’ goal.
Baloyi’s shot, which was heading for the top left corner, was deflected wide of the target by Happy Jele and Zinnbauer refreshed his defence by introducing Bongani Sam.
Pirates were able to contain Celtic in the latter stages of the game and ultimately, the Soweto giants emerged 1-0 winners on the night.
The win took Pirates to third place on the league standings – a point behind second-placed SuperSport United and four behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, while Celtic remained 11th on the log.
Pirates will be away to Chippa United in a league game on March 6 and Celtic are scheduled to host Maritzburg United on the same day.
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