Orlando Pirates 2-0 Cape Town City: Quick-fire goals send Bucs to second on PSL log

Orlando Pirates 2-0 Cape Town City: Quick-fire goals send Bucs to second on PSL log

Orlando Pirates returned to winning ways in the PSL when they claimed a 2-0 victory over Cape Town City at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The Soweto giants scored through from Deon Hotto and Vincent Pule in the first-half as they bounced back to winning ways in the league having lost to Lamontville Golden Arrows before they faced Uthongathi FC.

Pirates were looking to record their second victory in a row after securing a hard-fought 1-0 win over National First Division (NFD) side Uthongathi over the weekend.

Paseka Mako, Fortune Makaringe and Pule were recalled to the starting line-up as coach Josef Zinnbauer made three changes to the team which faced Uthongathi in the Nedbank Cup match.

While City were hoping to extend their unbeaten run to five matches across all competitions having thumped a hapless Bloemfontein Celtic side 4-0 in the Nedbank Cup game at home over the weekend.

Coach Jan Olde Riekerink unsurprisingly made just one change to the team which took on Celtic as he brought back influential attacker Bradley Ralani, who finished last season with joint-most assists (nine) in the league. 

Pirates started the match like a house on fire as they grabbed two quick goals within the first five minutes of the game with the City defence at sixes and sevens.

Hotto was sent through on goal by Fortune Makaringe’s defence-splitting pass and he fired past oncoming goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh to make it 1-0 to Pirates just a minute into the game.

It was soon 2-0 to Pirates after a beautiful team move with Thembinkosi Lorch receiving a pass from Makaringe before setting up Pule, who scored with a simple tap in the fifth minute.

The Citizens surged forward in numbers looking to pull one back, but they were left vulnerable at the back and Leeuwenburgh had to produce a superb save to keep out Lorch’s close-range effort.

Pirates lost Thabang Monare after he suffered a concussion injury having collided with his teammate Siphesihle Ndlovu and the in-form central midfielder was replaced by Linda Mntambo in the 36th minute.

When the match resumed, Leeuwenburgh pulled off a fine diving save to deny Pule from a well-taken free-kick to ensure that the first-half ended with Pirates leading 2-0.

Mpho Makola, who has mainly been used as an impact player from the bench this season, was introduced by Riekerink prior to the start of the second-half.

The Citizens pressed the Buccaneers, but the hosts looked dangerous on the counter-attack with Hotto failing to connect with Makaringe’s cross following a quick move by Zinnbauer’s side.

City were nearly gifted a goal following a mistake by Richard Ofori, but Thabo Nodada could not punish the Pirates goalkeeper as he ballooned his effort over the crossbar.

The Buccaneers continued to threaten on the counter-attack and they should have extended their lead when Lorch and Hotto were sent through on goal, but they were both fantastically denied by Leeuwenburgh.

The last chance of the game fell for Lorch, who somehow miskicked the ball from close range and ultimately, Pirates emerged 2-0 winners over City.

As a result, Pirates are now joint-second with Swallows FC and SuperSport United on the league standings – five points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

Bucs will now take on Botswana champions TS Galaxy in the Caf Confederation Cup game on Sunday, while City, who remained sixth on the log, are set to face SuperSport on Saturday in a PSL game.