Makaringe strikes late to earn Pirates a vital victory

Fortune Makaringe’s late goal earned Orlando Pirates a 1-0 victory over Sekhukhune United in a DStv Premiership match at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.

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In a game that saw limited  goalscoring chances from both sides, Pirates’ also missed a penalty for the Buccaneers, meaning Makaringe’s goal was crucial for Pirates in their pursuit of second place in the league.

With the result, the Buccaneers go to fourth place on the log with 38 points after 24 games, but they trail second placed Royal AM by five points – Royal AM won 2-0 at home to Marumo Gallants yesterday.

For Sekhukhune, they have now dropped to 10th spot on the table with the side having collected 38 points from as many games as Bucs. The Limpopo team’s fight for a top eight finish has become even harder.

Looking at the match, the first half didn’t really bring much entertainment, with both teams solid at the back. But, there were moments when Pirates looked dangerous through Paseka Mako and Bandile Shandu on the flanks. 

Sekhukhune had an opportunity with RodrickKabwe’s free-kick, but his attempt hit the wall as the game went into the break with no goals scored.

Pirates would go on to get  a glorious chance after getting a penalty thanks to the great work by Siphesihle Ndlovu, but Hotto stepped up and Ayanda Dlamini guessed the right way to keep the scores level.

The introduction of Chibuike Ohizu meant that now Sekhukhune were going all out to get a winning goal, and the striker immediately made an impact, but he was judged to be offside as his header hit the crossbar in the 70^th minute.

It took until the 82^nd minute for Bucs to get the all-important goal thanks to an error at the back by Sekhukhune, and Makaringe made no mistake to ensure Bucs walked away with maximum points on the day.

Next up for the Buccaneers will be a clash against a struggling Baroka FC on 12 April away from home, with Bakgaga on a mission to escape the relegation zone, while Sekhukhune will play host to TS Galaxy on the 16^th of April.