Orlando Pirates notched up their second victory against Chippa United inside four days as they won 2-0 in their DStv Premiership clash played at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.
Three points were up for grabs in Soweto as the two sides slugged it out once more following the weekend’s Nedbank Cup encounter at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium where the Buccaneers prevailed to book their place in the final.
At home for the first time since hosting AmaZulu in mid-April, the home side struggled to find cohesion early on with the opening 20 minutes flying by without any real opportunities at both ends.
Bucs defender Thabiso Monyane was however presented with a chance in the 17th minute when he was released in acres of space by Thalente Mbatha but badly miscued his shot at goal. It took them until just before the half-hour mark to truly trouble the defence as Patrick Maswanganyi surged through the middle before drawing a deflection inside the box with his effort at goal.
The breakthrough wasn’t too far off, and it came in the 36th minute through some delightful interplay kicked off just inside Chippa territory when Maswanganyi released Monyane on the flank and the right-back delivered a searching cross which was turned into the net by Mabasa.
Pirates remained dominant and had an opportunity to double their lead four minutes before the break when Baraka Majogoro used his hand to defend Innocent Maela’s cross into the box, prompting the referee to point to the penalty spot.
The in-form Mabasa stepped up to convert and made no mistake as he sent the ball past a diving Stanley Nwabali into the bottom corner. An error-strewn start to the second period nearly left the visitors with an even steeper hill to climb as midfielder Thabo Makhele’s misdirected back pass came close to finding his own net before a desperate scramble from Nwabali who rushed across to make a clearance.
Chippa did show glimpses of intent as they looked to claw their way back and could have halved the deficit on the hour mark when Ronaldo Maarman fired at goal, only to be denied a deflection from Tapelo Xoki who had stuck his foot out inside the box.
The two sides traded blows as the clock wound down, with Kabelo Dlamini drawing a save from Nwabali with a long-range effort while Sipho Chaine produced a similar outcome at the other end in keeping out Aviwe Mqokozo’s header.
The Bucs shot-stopper was called upon once more on the 90-minute mark to deny Brooklyn Poggenpoel after the midfielder had unleashed a powerful shot from a fair distance out. This was followed by an injury-time effort from Pirates striker Evidence Makgopa who pushed into space before forcing Nwabali into a save from close range.
The two first-half goals were however all that was needed to settle the contest as the Soweto Giants clinched another vital win to extend a remarkable winning run.