Bucs revive title hopes
TONY MASHATI
JOHANNESBURG - Orlando Pirates made it clear that they won’t give up their title hopes without a fight after beating a luckless Ajax Cape Town 3-0 at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
Although Ajax remain in second place on the log, they are now only a point ahead of the impressive Bucs, and if the Urban Warriors entertain real hopes of winning the title then they will have to improve defensively and also convert the opportunities that they create.
The defeat against Pirates was the first loss away from home for Ajax, but they will take solace from the fact that they created enough chances to have come away from the match with at least a point.
After conceding 12 goals in three matches that the Urban Warriors have played at the Orlando Stadium, they will be happy to know that they won’t be playing anymore games at the same venue this season.
Pirates started the brighter of the two teams and they should have taken the lead as early as the seventh minute when Thulasizwe Mbuyane contrived to hit the ball straight at Latvian defender Deniss Ivanovs with goalkeeper Hans Vonk nowhere to be seen.
Katlego Mashego who was a constant threat for the Ajax defence put the home side ahead with a sublime finish in the 28th minute after the visitors failed to clear their lines from a corner.
Pirates’ other goals were scored by Phenyo Mongala and defender Rooi Mahamutsa put the icing on the cake by converting his penalty after Ajax defender Nazeer Allie handled the ball in the danger area.
Mashego said it was an important victory for them, because if they had lost the match, they would have had a mountain to climb to catch up with SuperSport United.
“After SuperSport had won their game earlier in the day, we knew that we had to collect maximum points against Ajax to keep our title hopes alive. This victory will give us a lot of confidence ahead of our match against Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday evening,” said Mashego.
Mashego did point out that the scoreline flattered his team a bit.
“When people look at the 3-0 scoreline, they will think that Ajax weren’t at the races, but we had to work hard for the victory. We will just have to keep plugging away and hope that SuperSport drop points along the way for us to stand a chance of winning the PSL title,” added Mashego.