Students pile misery on Bucs
BAD TO WORSE: DOUBLE BLOW FOR PIRATES AS INJURY, RED CARD PLAY HAVOC
Jele puts team on the board but too little too late for Sea Robbers who remain in 10th spot.
Nothing seems to be going right for Orlando Pirates as their winless streak stretched to seven games after losing 2-1 to Bidvest Wits in an Absa Premiership match at the Orlando Stadium last night.
Following the dramatic scenes during the heavy loss to Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld last weekend, there was some belief that Bucs might start to pull up their socks and start getting positive results to calm their fans down, especially after meeting with club chairman Irvin Khoza.
However, there were more woes for Bucs as they lost new signing Marc van Heerden to injury beforee goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane was sent off in the second half, leaving Happy Jele to finish the game as a goalkeeper.
Coming up against Wits was always going to be a difficult task for Pirates with the Clever Boys on a good run in the league.
A Gabadinho Mhango brace in the first half was enough to steer Gavin Hunt’s team to the summit of the league table on goal difference ( tied on 31 points with Cape Town City), while Jele’s second half strike was mere consolation as Pirates remained 10th on the log with 19 points.
Pirates had the better start to the game, with the team looking sharper early on.
But it was Wits who threatened to score first when Phakamani Mahlambi’s shot was saved by Mabokgwane, who then blocked a follow-up shot from James Keene as early as the eighth minute.
Wits opened the scoring in the 29th minute when some good skills by Mhango saw the forward go past two Pirates defenders before curling the ball into the left corner.
Oupa Manyisa had a penalty shout turned down in the 37th minute as Bucs pushed hard for the equaliser.
Mhango got his second goal of the match at the end of the first half, scoring with a well-directed header from a corner kick.
Jele pulled one back for the Buccaneers in the 61st minute and although Pirates showed more spirit than in their drubbing by Sundowns, they didn’t have enough to snatch a share of the spoils.
In other results, Free State Stars played to a 0-0 draw with SuperSport United, with the Baroka FC-Platinum Stars match also ending goalless.