Orlando Pirates netted a goal in each half to defeat Cape Town City 2-0 in their DStv Premiership encounter at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night.
Returning to domestic action after a successful outing in continental competition, head coach Jose Riveiro made a single change to the team that started on the league visit to Chippa United seven days ago as Paseka Mako replaced Deon Hotto on the left-hand side of the defence. As they have done consistently on home turf this season, the Buccaneers were again quick to assert their dominance as they immediately set up camp inside the opposition half early on.
The payoff came just nine minutes from the first whistle and it was through an excellent strike from Zakhele Lepasa, who fired into the top corner after making an excellent turn on the edge of the area to bag his ninth goal in all competitions this season. Pirates remained in firm control as they continued to dictate matters with Patrick Maswanganyi and Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo featuring prominently in the middle of the park, while City’s attempts at pushing forward in search of the equaliser were stifled as the hosts maintained their shape.
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The second half kicked off with Pirates attempting to pick up where they left off in the first period with Relebohile Mofokeng drawing a save from Keet with a long-range effort six minutes after the restart. The Buccaneers found their defence stretched just seconds after, leading to a close attempt from an unmarked Taahir Goedeman, whose shot drifted wide.
Desperate to create daylight between themselves and the visitors, Pirates enjoyed another dominant passage of play, and reward was reaped 15 minutes from the final whistle when Maswanganyi ran into a brilliant low cross from Deon Hotto, with his first-time shot taking the ball over the line to make it 2-0. City responded by making their way upfield, where Chaine was forced to stretch to his left to deny Jaedin Rhodes.