Pirates redeem themselves with slick win against Royal AM

Orlando Pirates redeemed themselves after their loss in their opening game of the DStv Premiership season by putting up a great performance to beat Royal AM 4-2 at the Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.

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Pirates were desperate for maximum points after they were edged 1-0 by Stellenbosch FC at Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday.

And the Soweto giants bounced back from the Stellies defeat with an almost perfect performance which saw them score three goals in the first half, with striker Zakhele Lepasa scoring a brace and Monnapule Saleng scoring the other goal.

Royal AM had a decent start to the season as they drew 0-0 with AmaZulu FC, and came into the Buccaneers match with a bit of confidence.

But they failed to put up much of a threat to Pirates.

The home side had a bright start to the game, with Patrick Maswanganyi winning them a penalty in the 14th minute. Zakhele Lepasa stepped up to take and made no mistake as he found the back of the net to put Pirates the lead.

Thabiso Monyane had a chance to extend the lead a few minutes later after being spotted by Maswanganyi inside the box.

But the right-back blasted the ball over, giving Royal AM goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto no trouble.

Nothing was working out for Thwihli Thwahla as the Buccaneers piled more pressure on them.

It didn’t take long for Pirates to get the second goal of the match after an excellent pass by Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo found Saleng on the right-side of the attack and he curled the ball beautifully to make it 2-0.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors just after 30 minutes as a long ball from Bucs shot-stopper Sipho Chaine found Lepasa, who managed to sneak the ball past Mpoto for his second goal of the match to make it 3-0.

Just before half-time, the KwaZulu-Natal based outfit managed to decrease the deficit thanks to a powerful shot by Sphiwe Cele to make it 3-1.

The Buccaneers continued where they left off coming into the second half. They could have got the fourth goal of the game, but Relebohile Mofokeng (formerly Ratomo) saw his chance go into waste with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Royal AM began to have some rhythm as time went by, but they were finding it hard to unlock the Bucs defence.

Pirates still had control of match going into the last minutes, but the could not add to their tally. Instead, it was Royal AM who would get a second goal after a mistake by Chaine while clearing the ball ended up with Mxolisi Macuphu making it 3-2.

But in the end, it was the Sea Robbes who went onto claim maximum points, also grabbing the last goal of the match through substitute Bandile Shandu.