Shonga brace sets up Pirates’ home win over Horoya

Orlando Pirates recorded a 3-0 win over Horoya of Guinea, in a CAF Champions League match played at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday evening.

The South African club took time to settle but when they found their rhythm, the Guinean League winners of 2016, 2017 and 2018, found the firepower of Pirates attackers Thembinkosi Lorch and Zambian Justin Shonga, too much on the night.   Lorch could well have put the Buccaneers ahead midway through the first half when he unleashed a rasping effort which was kept out by the Horoya crossbar.    However, Lorch did manage to give his team an all-important half-time lead, when he managed to lose his marker to produce a quality finish just on the whistle to end the first period.   Pirates kept pressing and managed to find space in which to attack. In the 73rd minute, Shonga doubled the Pirates lead when he took advantage of a defensive error in which goalkeeper Abdoulaye Kante charged from his line but failed to get to the ball in time.   The Pirates fans hardly had time to celebrate the goal before Shonga added his second of the night three minutes later, by playing himself into space before finishing in style.   The win puts Pirates into a healthy position on the Group B standings with a win and a draw, from last week's goalless encounter against Platinum in Zimbabwe. Pirates are also now unbeaten in the last 6 outings.   Next up for the Buccaneers is an Absa Premiership match against Baroka on Tuesday. The match holds some history as Baroka knocked Pirates out of the Telkom Knockout competition back in December before going on to lift the trophy.   Following that Pirates have a Nedbank Cup last 32 round clash away to Black Leopards on Saturday, before hosting Tunisian giants Esperance in their next Champions League fixture on February 1 For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.