Pirates hammer hapless Chippa to move up to fifth spot

It was Chippa's fourth consecutive loss of the season and was a baptism of fire for new coach Luc Eymael.


Orlando Pirates handed hapless Chippa United a 3-0 drubbing in a one-sided Betway Premiership match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Sunday.

Goals from Patrick Maswangayi, Deon Hotto and substitute Tshepang Moremi were enough to earn the Buccaneers their third victory of the season and they moved up to fifth position on the log table.

As for Chippa, it was their fourth consecutive loss and was a baptism of fire for new coach Luc Eymael whose first game in charge of the Chilli Boys ended with this defeat.

The visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession in the first half and Chippa goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was called into action in as early as the first minute of the match. The lanky Nigerian did well to parry Oswin Appollis’ cross-cum-shot away to safety.

It didn’t take long though for Pirates to find their opening goal as Maswanganyi beat Nwabali with a cool low shot following a mistake at the back by the home side. Ironically, the mistake came from Nwabali himself who tried to play the ball through the middle, but Kamogelo Sebelebele did well to steal it before Evidence Makgopa set up Maswanganyi who showed composure before beating Nwabali with a nice finish in the 10th minute.

With Pirates putting them under pressure, the Chippa defence looked jittery and committed another silly mistake three minutes later. However, this time Nwabali saved them by pulling off a great save to deny Maswanganyi his brace.

Pirates were to benefit from another error from Chippa for their second goal in the 42nd minute which was scored by Hotto. Sirgio Kammies’ pass was intercepted by Oswin Appollis who then set up Hotto with a perfectly weighted pass. The Namibian wing then beat Nwabali with a powerful shot.

Chippa were awarded a free kick in a promising position just before the half-time break, but they wasted it and Pirates took their 2-0 lead into the interval.

Pirates were presented with a chance to triple their lead from the penalty spot just three minutes into the second half after Evidence Makgopa was fouled inside the box. Maswanganyi stepped up, but his spot kick was saved by Nwabali.

Pirates, however, were not to be denied their third goal as substitute Moremi beat Nwabali with a low shot after he was set up by Appollis.