Orlando Pirates are surely giving Betway Premiership log-leaders Mamelodi Sundowns sleepless nights after they came back from a goal down to win 2-1 against Cape Town City at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
Sundowns had an assignment later on the same day against TS Galaxy and they are surely watching over their shoulders as the Buccaneers are gathering the much-needed points to keep the title race alive.
Hashim Domingo opened the scoring for City before Tshegofatso Mabasa equalised in the second half. Goodman Mosele scored the winner for Bucs. It was Mabasa’s fifth goal of the season and 13th in all competitions.
Onto Mabasa, he may have just caught the attention of Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, who was at eSgodini alongside his wingman Helman Mkhalele. Mabasa is currently the hottest striker in the Premier Soccer League.
The sharpshooting Mabasa is on the right path to surpassing Benedict ‘Tso’ Vilakazi as the club’s all-time top scorer in the PSL era as he is now just nine goals away from the milestone.
Again, the Pirates supporters were out in their numbers to rally behind the team, and it must be said that they are growing to become a fanbase that the club lacked in the last couple of seasons.
Jose Riveiro’s men may have just started the game on the backfoot – squandering some of their opportunities and lacking their usual composure in the final third and the much-needed aggression when it mattered the most in the first half, they came back stronger in the second stanza and fought back like they never did before.
In their title chase, Pirates are, however, going up against a point machine in Sundowns – who usually at this time of the season are cruising with a huge point gap lead.
Even though this season is slightly the same, the Sea Robbers still have three games in hand, of which one of them is against the financially troubled Royal AM. Games in hand don’t ultimately result in wins – a message that one would expect Riveiro to have passed on and emphasized to his players already.
