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Pirates ship on cruise control after Highlands win
Orlando Pirates continued with their good form in 2020 after they hammered Highlands Park 3-1 at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday night.
Picture: Gallo Images
This was the Buccaneers’ third victory in a row having went past Polokwane City, Mamelodi Sundowns and now the Lions of the North.
Bucs scored two quick goals coming in just before 15 minutes of play, before getting the third one just as the game was going into the break.
From the onset, the Buccaneers looked very lively as they looked for an early goal.
Their search came through in the seventh minute after a long ball from Happy Jele found Thembinkosi Lorch, who just gave the ball a touch beating Highlands goalkeeper Kyle Peters on his left side.
The Buccaneers didn’t relax from then on as the second goal came in just five minutes later courtesy of in-form striker Gabadinho Mhango.
Nothing was working for the visitors with their attempts to break the Bucs back-four not working out.
In the 28th minute, Owen da Gama’s charges got a chance through striker Peter Shalulile, but his header went wide.
Rodney Ramagalela also came close to scoring in the 45 minutes, but his header was saved by Bucs keeper Wayne Sandilands.
With the game heading towards half-time, Paseka Mako added Bucs third goal of the match from just outside the box following a beautiful run.
The second half began with Pirates eager to add more goals.
The home side got a chance just a minute played in the second stanza through Fortune Makaringe, but his header was saved.
Some sloppy defending almost saw Bucs gift Highlands a goal after Sandilands wasn’t able to clear the ball in time, but the ball was quickly taken out of the dangerous area in the 66th minute.
Highlands began to pick up some momentum as they managed to get more balls in the Pirates box.
The Tembisa based outfit managed to pull one goal back from Mlungisi Mbunjana – who hit a thunderous shot giving Sandilands no chance to save in the 81st minute.
With less than nine minutes left of play, Highlands seemed to have got their mojo back with substitute Mokete Mogaila troubling Bucs back-four with his pace.
At the end, there weren’t any more goals added as Bucs claimed maximum points for the third consecutive time.
The Buccaneers are now on 30 points after 18 games, while Highlands are on 23 having played 19 games.
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