Orlando Pirates marched to their second Betway Premiership win of the week when they beat Magesi 3-0 on their visit to the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday night.
The three points picked up from the encounter brought the Buccaneers within three points of log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns with a game in hand. It was also their 20th victory of the season, surpassing their tally from the previous campaign.
The day’s earlier result had meant that the Buccaneers kicked off their assignment in Polokwane with some ground to cover in the race for the title. It took them a while to kick into gear amid a stop-start opening to proceedings.
Things eventually clicked in clinical fashion as Patrick Maswanganyi sparked some magic in the eighth minute, finishing a move he started in his own half by dancing past defenders inside the Magesi penalty area before making it 1-0.
The pressure remained on the hosts with the visitors now fully in their stride. It did not take long for Pirates’ dominance to count as they made it 2-0 through Kamogelo Sebelebele, who pounced on a rebound from a blocked Maswanganyi shot and fired past goalkeeper Mbali Tshabalala.
Having created daylight between themselves and their opponents early on in the game, the Buccaneers went about not letting them back into the contest as they dominated possession while setting camp in the opposition half. They had some chances to further increase their advantage with Oswin Appollis denied from a set piece before Maswanganyi’s effort from a long way out went narrowly off target.
The Soweto Giants maintained a similar theme in the second half as they resumed their pursuit for the third goal. Striker Evidence Makgopa was denied from close range three minutes after the restart when he looked to flick a Maswanganyi cross towards goal while Relebohile Mofokeng landed the ball on the roof of the net when he looked to chip Tshabalala, who had wandered off his line.
Their next opportunity was delivered on a plate when a clumsy shove on Sebelebele inside the box was duly punished with the referee pointing to the spot. Appollis stepped up to convert, and did just that as he sent Tshabalala the wrong way to make it 3-0 on the hour mark.
The Magesi shot-stopper’s opposite number Sipho Chaine meanwhile had a relatively quiet evening, but was eventually called into action late on. En route to a record 19th clean sheet of the season, the Bucs keeper proved equal to the task as he made an excellent low save to keep out a shot from range.
That was only a rare moment of promise from Dikwena tša Meetse, who continued to be up against it as the Buccaneers maintained their dominance throughout the closing stages.
Their assured performance paid off once more as they collected victory in their penultimate away fixture of the season, taking their points tally to 65 with two games left to play.
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