Alex’s Lebogang Manyama bamboozles Pirate players
JOBURG - Alex boy Lebogang Manyama stole the Pirates thunder right from their backyard when he put on a scintillating performance to help SuperSport United bump the Buccaneers off the Telkom Knockout by two goals to nil.
Alex boy Lebogang Manyama stole the Pirates thunder right from their backyard when he put on a scintillating performance to help SuperSport United bump the Buccaneers off the Telkom Knockout by two goals to nil.
Manyama opened the scoring in the 25th minute, when he hit a volley past the goals of the young under-study of the late Senzo Meyiwa, Brighton Mhlongo, who was thrown into the deep end by virtue of the tragedy around the slain Meyiwa.
He was also the provider of the second goal that was put behind the net 15 minutes later by Togolese striker Dove Wome in a match that United started off like a house on fire as the team quickly settled down and gave pirates a run for their money in the first half.
Manyama was at the helm of all the troubles of the Buccaneers as the former FC Alexandra boy gave ‘The Ghost’ defenders a torrid time with his telling runs and passes that left Pirates players bamboozled.
Pirates upped their game when the teams returned from the half time break, indicating the dressing room mood that characterised the Bucs camp that was clearly still reeling from the effects of the loss of their leader, captain Meyiwa.
The Bucs piled the pressure on United in search of the elusive goals and Manyama, who was crowned man-of-the-match for his exploits of the night, twice caught Pirates on a counter and could have added two more goals had he been a bit more imaginative in the one-on-one situations he had with Mhlongo.
Referee Robert Smith did Pirates a huge favour when he denied United a third clear-cut goal just before the half time break and again went on to refuse awarding what looked to be a legitimate penalty after Thuso Phala was hacked inside the box.
Instead, to the amazement of United players, Smith yellow-carded Phala for what he believed was a simulation exercise in a bid to attract a penalty award in their favour. “I don’t want to talk about the two incidents as I believe it’s water under the bridge,” said coach Gordon Ingesund afterwards.
His Pirates counterpart, visibly still shaken by the death of Meyiwa, said most of his players still have not recovered from the shock of the tragedy. “I don’t want to use Senzo’s death as an excuse for the loss in the Telkom Cup,” said coach Vermezovic Vladimir. The two teams will meet again in a league match in a matter of days.
