Maswanganyi late winner helps Pirates retain lead at the top

Pirates and Sundowns are tied on 44 points at the top, but the Buccaneers edge the Brazilians on goal difference.

Orlando Pirates secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Polokwane City to retain their lead at the top of the Betway Premiership standings.

Substitute Patrick Maswanganyi scored the winner on the stroke of full-time in an entertaining game at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Wednesday night. Relebohile Mofokeng opened the scoring in the first seven minutes of the second half, but Bonginkosi Dlamini levelled the score in the 87^th minute.

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With Mamelodi Sundowns winning by the same scoreline against Golden Arrows in the other game played in Pretoria, that meant the teams are tied on 44 points at the top, but the Buccaneers edge the Brazilians on goal difference.

With the raining coming hard in Polokwane and the surface being slippery, it created some unfavourable conditions for the payers and they committed mistakes earlier on in the game.

Pirates almost benefitted from one of those mistakes in the sixth minute when a City defender failed to control the ball and Evidence Makgopa found himself on a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, but Lindokuhle Mathebula produced a great save to deny him from close range.

Rise and Shine’s first shot on goal came in the 21^st minute from right back Thabang Matuludi who tried to beat Sipho Chaine with an audacious strike from long range, but the Pirates goalkeeper was well-positioned to make a routine save.

Despite their superior ball possession and the plenty of chances created in the opening 45 minutes, Pirates were not able to put the ball in the back of the net and had to settle for a 0-0 draw at the break.

It took the Buccaneers only seven minutes to break the deadlock and they found their opening goal through Relebohile Mofokeng. Following some good work from Andre De Jong on the right, Mathebula pulled off a double save, but the ball found Mofokeng unmarked inside the box and he cleverly lobbed the ball over Mathebula and into the back of the next.

Substitute Yanela Mbuthuma came close to doubling Pirates’ lead in the 73^rd minute, but his shot went narrowly wide of goal.

City thought they had stolen a point from the game when Dlamini equalised for them in the 87^th minute by pouncing on a loose ball inside the box, but Maswanganyi retained Pirates’ lead on the stroke of full time to make sure that the Buccaneers take all the points on offer.