Orlando Pirates kicked off their 2023-23 Premier Soccer League (PSL) campaign with a 4-2 victory against Royal AM at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Sowetan giants broke the deadlock in the 15th minute after a foul on Patrick Maswanganyi, who was brought down inside the box after linking up with Relebohile Mofokeng, prompted the referee to point at the penalty spot. Zakhele Lepasa was the man who stepped up, and the Bucs striker made no mistake in sending Royal AM keeper Mondli Mpoto the wrong way to get his side’s first goal of the season.
Pirates managed to go two-up just before the half-hour mark, courtesy of Monnapule Saleng, who was the recipient of a fine pass from Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo, breaching Mpoto’s defence with an excellent curling shot into the back of the net. They did not take their foot off the pedal, with their third goal coming just five minutes after the second as Lepasa completed his brace after getting on the end of a brilliant long ball from goalkeeper Sipho Chaine prior to poking it past the Royal AM shot-stopper.
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On the stroke of half-time, the KwaZulu-Natal side reduced the deficit when Hopewell Cele found the back of the net for a 3-1 result. Thwihli Thwahla then managed to set up a nervy finish, and it was through a bit of fortune on their part when miscommunication at the back left the Bucs’ defence exposed, allowing Mxolisi Macuphu in for his side’s second goal in the final minute of regulation time.
However, second-half substitute Bandile Shandu would restore Pirates’ two-goal lead with just seconds remaining on the clock when he ran onto a perfectly-weighted pass from Ndlondlo to turn the ball into the net and make it 4-2. There was not much time to further affect the scoreboard, with the Soweto Giants seeing out the rest of injury time to move up from the bottom half of the table to third place ahead of a short break in league action.