Pirates win wraps up midweek DStv Prem action

by Graeme Jackson

Thursday May 06, 2021. 19:35

A midweek trio of games in South Africa’s DStv Premiership was completed on Thursday with an emphatic win for Orlando Pirates.

The Buccaneers defeated Black Leopards 3-0 at Orlando Stadium, courtesy of a brace of goals from Tshegofatso Mabasa and a late strike from Frank Mhango.

The result lifted the Buccaneers to fourth place on the table – one point behind third-placed Golden Arrows and with a game in hand on the Durban side. Lidoda Duvha, meanwhile, remain adrift at the bottom of the log and look doomed for direct relegation to the second tier. They are six points behind Chippa United in the relegation playoff spot with only four matches remaining in their campaign.

The midweek action opened on Tuesday 4 May with a surprise 2-1 home win for Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila over Kaizer Chiefs at the Peter Mokaba Stadium. The Amakhosi, who played more than half of the game with 10 men following a red card for Njabulo Blom, appeared to have salvaged a point when a Lebogang Manyama goal cancelled out Thabo Rakhale’s opener, but Vhadau Vha Damani struck in the eighth minute of injury time at the end of the game, with Thabo Mnyamane slotting home a penalty.

The result saw the Limpopo side rise out of the relegation playoff zone and push Chippa United back into the bottom two, while Chiefs remain outside of the top half of the log after a run of form which has seen them pick up just one win from their last seven league outings.

Wednesday 5 May saw Mamelodi Sundowns reaffirm their status as the dominance force in the Premier Soccer League, defeating Maritzburg United 2-0 at Loftus Versfeld thanks to a penalty from Ricardo Nascimento and a first goal of the season from Gift Motupa.

The win took the Brazilians four points clear at the top of the log (with a game in hand), and gives them some breathing room on the domestic front ahead of their CAF Champions League showdown with former coach Pitso Mosimane and Al Ahly, while the Team of Choice remained just one point above the relegation playoff zone and in a three-way tie with TTM and Stellenbosch FC.

The DStv Premiership will hold a full round of matches from Sunday 9 to Wednesday 12 May, starting with Sundowns visiting TS Galaxy and headlined by a Soweto derby between Chiefs and Swallows FC.

DStv Premiership midweek results

Tuesday 4 May

Tshakhuma TM 2-1 Kaizer Chiefs

Wednesday 5 May

Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0 Maritzburg United

Thursday 6 May

Orlando Pirates 3-0 Black Leopards