Johannesburg – Orlando Pirates eased into the second half of the 2011/12 Premiership with a 1-0 win over Black Leopards at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Having been offered space by the Leopards’ defence, forward Thulasizwe Mbuyane netted with a seventh minute diving header, thriving off a cross from debutant right-back Bheki Nzunga.
This was a motivating result for Pirates ahead of their Caf Champions League preliminary round first leg tie against Recreativo de Libolo from Angola in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
The match was far from a classic and the Buccaneers’ display was rusty as they were guilty of giving the ball away too much in the final half of the field.
Pirates coach Julio Leal opted to start with Senzo Meyiwa in goal ahead of Moeneeb Josephs, while also giving a start to Nzunga.
New midfield signing Thandani Ntshumayelo was also offered a debut in the first eleven while another new signing, striker Njabulo Manqana was introduced in the final 15 minutes for Ndumiso Mabena.
Former Portuguese international, Luis Boa Morte, had his first moments in the black and white club jersey for the final two minutes, coming on for Mbuyane to the cheers of the near 10 000 supporters at the Soweto venue.
Pirates, however, had started off in sprightly fashion with a chance to be on the score sheet shortly after kick-off.
Defender Siyabonga Sangweni found himself in the Leopards box but completely missed the ball when he tried to shoot past an advancing Postnett Omony in the visitors’ goal.
After opening the scores, Pirates’ next best chance of the opening 45 minutes fell to Mabena on the stroke of the halftime.
The mercurial striker went on to shoot well wide from the edge of the box.
Leopards came into their own after the half hour mark, after a disjointed start to the match with regular captain Mongezi Bobe dropped to the bench by the side’s Serbian coach Vladislav Heric.
Their best chance from the half fell to former Buccaneer Ben Vilakazi, with the diminutive midfielder pouncing on a loose ball in front of the Pirates defence but he lost it again as he was shaping to shoot.
They started off the better team for the second-half as the hosts took their foot off the pedal.
In the 53rd minute, substitute striker Rodney Ramagalela found himself on the offensive after a quick counter-attack, but chose a poor option of shooting wide when Kingston Nkhatha was in a better position.
Four minutes later, midfielder Itumeleng Duiker threaded through the Pirates defence with his final shot going wide.
Pirates surged forward in search of an assurance goal after the hour mark, coming close with a powerful Rooi Mahamutsa header that sailed wide of the goal in the 70th minute.
Mabena came close with his own header a few minutes later from a Nzunga cross, after finding himself unmarked in the box.
Omony, though, was alert as he easily held the shot despite his team going on to lose by the solitary goal.
Pirates now carry 27 points after 16 matches, with Lidoda Duvha still on 10 points from their 16 games.
However, with Jomo Cosmos drawing 1-1 with Kaizer Chiefs in a simultaneous fixture, Leopards drop to the bottom of the log. – Sapa
Article source: http://www.iol.co.za/sport/soccer/psl/rusty-pirates-overcome-leopards-1.1235350
