‘When they come in numbers we need to give them a good show,’ said the Pirates midfielder.
Orlando Pirates midfielder Makheleni Makhaula says controlling the middle of the park on Saturday helped free up the Buccaneers attackers to strut their stuff in a 2-0 Betway Premiership win at home to Magesi.
Pirates level with Sundowns
First half goals from Yanele Mbuthuma and Man-of-the-Match Relebohile Mofokeng moved Pirates level on points with Mamelodi Sundowns at the top of the table.
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“We knew what they were going to do,” Makhaula told Pirates media.
“The coach (Abdeslam Ouaddou) told us we need to keep the ball and that is what we did. We won every second ball, and by dominating the midfield we gave Rele (Mofokeng) and (Oswin) Appollis the space to make things easier.”
Makhaula also praised the supporters for filling up the newly-named Orlando Amstel Arena.
“We appreciate them, we are nothing without them,” he added.
“When they come in numbers we need to give them a good show. Today we showed we are there (for them). They must be patient, even when things are not going our way. It is up to us to make sure we collect the three points.”
Pirates will now turn their attention to the Nedbank Cup, and a trip to the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Tuesday to take on Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) in the last 32.
The game is the Limpopo ABC Motsepe League side’s home match but they have moved it to Durban because of the floods in their home province.
“The reason why the game was taken to Durban was that the Vhembe region is part of the places that have been declared a natural disaster,” TTM general manager Azwihangwisi Phasha told FarPost.”
‘Not safe’
“So it was not safe for people to come to this side. That was the reason why the match was moved to Durban. Before that, we tried to move the match to Polokwane, but unfortunately, the New Peter Mokaba Stadium was unavailable due to the Kaizer Chiefs’ CAF Confederation Cup match (against Zesco on Sunday).”
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Pirates, Nedbank Cup winners under Jose Riveiro in 2023 and 2024, are now looking to recapture the trophy they lost to Kaizer Chiefs in the final last season.