Pirates’ recent form

Right now, Jose Riveiro’s men are in their worst form since he took over. Prior to the significant recent slump, Bucs had followed up February’s 1-0 loss in the Soweto Derby to Chiefs with a long run of excellent form. Their next 21 fixtures in all competitions saw just two defeats. The momentum they gathered saw the Nedbank Cup lifted and CAF Champions League football secured by finishing second.

Things have gone somewhat pearshaped since then, causing sections of the supporter base to question if the Spaniard has taken the team as far as he can. The last 10 encounters in all competitions have only seen two wins if we attribute penalty kicks as being drawn matches, as the recordkeeping rules indicate. Those two victories were a 1-0 home win over Jwaneng Galaxy, a win in vain as the Sea Robbers exited continental action on spot-kicks, and a 2-0 home win over then whipping boys, Spurs, in the Carling Knockout.

Pirates have failed to score in six of those 10 fixtures despite the vast firepower at their disposal. On the only occasion where they netted more than once during this mini-crisis, one of the strikes was a penalty. That means that they’ve scored just four open-play goals in 10 fixtures.

Overall, they were on a four-match winless run in the DStv Premiership before the win over Sekhukhune United. They’ve followed five successive wins on their travels from March to May with two losses and two draws in their last four. Since their run of a mere two losses in 21 matches, their last 10 results read as follows:

LLL W D W DD L D