Relief for Mokwena as Pirates take down City

Orlando Pirates relieved some of the pressure on head coach Rulani Mokwena on Tuesday evening, a 3-2 win over Polokwane City at OrlandoStadium giving them just their fourth Absa Premiership victory of the season.

Mokwena’s job came under further scrutiny, after Pirates were knocked out of the Telkom Knockout, and beaten in the league by bitter rivals Kaizer Chiefs, in the space of a week.

Here, however, the Pirates coach certainly showed his worth, as his substitutions proved decisive, Tshegofatso Mabasa and Kabelo Dlamini coming off the bench to net second half goals, after the two sides had gone into the break locked at 1-1.

Pirates were also helped, it must be said, by an error from referee Masixole Bambiso, who incorrectly awarded a penalty to the Buccaneers for a non-existent hand ball when they were trailing 1-0 to an early Charlton Mashumba effort.

And the game was also marred by an incident at the end of the first half that saw Thembinkosi Lorch and Puleng Tlolane sent off.

One decision the match officials got right was to award a goal to Mashumba in the12th minute, the Zimbabwean heading a corner against the post and in, with Wayne Sandilands too late in a valiant attempt to palm the ball clear.

Pirates looked as vulnerable on the counter-attack as they have all season, but certainly dominated possession, probing from side-to-side in an attempt to find a gap in the City defence.

In the end, however, it was referee Bambiso who lent the Buccaneers a helping hand, so to speak, pointing to the spot after adjudging that a Polokwane player had been struck on the hand in a goalmouth melee, when in fact the ball had struck Nicholas Motloung on the hip.

Mhango slammed in the 35th minute spot kick and Orlando Stadium breathed a sigh of relief. Prior to his goal, Mhango had spent much of the game losing his rag with Bambiso, and the game got increasingly fractious, with City’s players incensed by the penalty award.

Five minutes before the break, Thembinkosi Lorch won a foul on the edge of the area, got up and went eyeball to eyeball with Puleng Tlolane. Tlolane fell to the ground, as did Lorch, the latter hitting the deck after a rather absurd delay. Bambiso showed red cards to both players, and the teams went into the break even in terms of numbers on
the pitch and the scoreline.

In the 55th minute Vincent Pule’s rasping drive was tipped over by Mwenya Chibwe, as Pirates came out looking to take the game to their opponents once more.

And they did go in front in the 67th minute, Mabasa slotting home a 6th league goal of the season, after turning in Fortune Makaringe’s cross.

Another substitue, Kabelo Dlamini, was desperately unlucky in the 77th minute as his effort beat Chibwe, but came back off the bar. He made amends a minute later, however, drilling a low shot into the net to seal the three points, and in turn notching his first goal in a Pirates shirt.

City, to their credit, kept on going, and in stoppage time, Mpho Mvelase rocketed an effort into the top corner to set up a nervy finish.

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