Pirates fight back to snatch Soweto Derby victory
- Andrew Olsson
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Relebohile Mofokeng's second half strike made the difference on Saturday as Orlando Pirates maintained their perfect record this season against rivals Kaizer Chiefs in a 2-1 Soweto Derby victory at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
South Africa's most promising young star arrived to finish low past Chiefs goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma in the 69th minute. An enterprising run from Deon Hotto led to a clever combination between the veteran and Mofokeng, who followed up to finish after Hotto had the ball poked away before the Namibian could get a shot off.
In a hard fought battle with few clear opportunities, efficiency was what pushed the Buccaneers to victory. However the CAF Champions League semifinalists had to dig deep after a dream start for Chiefs saw Makabi Lilepo curl in the opening goal inside two minutes.
But the Bucs were not deterred and another youth academy product, Mohau Nkota, showed his quality in the 24th minute with an excellent pass to set up a one-v-one chance for Evidence Makgopa who finished low past Bvuma.
The second half saw plenty of energy but less action until the crucial moment when Hotto's adventurous run and combination with Mofokeng set up the match winner. Chiefs struggled to create opportunities and could have fell further behind as Pirates successfully controlled play to secure the result.
Pirates are now nine points back of league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns in second place with one match in hand. Sundowns are in action a bit later on Saturday at Cape Town City.
Chiefs continue to wallow in midtable obscurity, sitting in ninth position and without a league victory in seven matches.
