Pirates Outfox Arrows - Orlando Pirates FC

Orlando Pirates staved off a tricky challenge from Lamontville Golden Arrows to walk off as 3-1 winners in their Betway Premiership encounter played at King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday night. With one more victory added to their tally, the Buccaneers propelled themselves into second place with just three points keeping them from the summit. Arrows meanwhile failed to make any further inroads into the top eight as their visitors maintained a solid run of results in the fixture. As league points were up for the taking for the last time before the upcoming November FIFA break, Pirates found the going tough in their initial attempts to assert themselves in the contest. They met an assured defensive effort from the home team, who kept chances at goal to a minimum throughout the opening quarter. A couple of attempts from distance were all the visitors had to show from their dominant start, with midfielder Sihle Nduli forcing a save from goalkeeper Xolani Ngcobo with a stinging shot from a long way out before Sipho Mbule followed suit with a similar effort that sailed narrowly off target in the 18th minute. The pressure was kept on Abafana Besthende and eventually paid off moments later when the Buccaneers made their way deep into opposition territory before Nkosikhona Ndaba's ball into the middle was stuck by Abafana Besthende defender Ayanda Jiyane into his own net.m for the opener. Arrows immediately launched their search for an equaliser and would have drawn level in the 28th minute if not for a wayward shot produced by Jerome Karelse, who skewed his shot from in front of the Bucs goal. Ngcobo kept the damage to a minimum for the hosts at the other end, rushing off his line to deny Tshepang Moremi, before Sipho Chaine was drawn into an excellent reflex save at the other end when he blocked a seemingly goalbound effort from Siyanda Ndlovu. Pirates set about doubling their lead early on in the second half, and came close six minutes from the restart when Oswin Appollis' effort from outside the box drifted inches wide of the target. Further attempts at goal came from the boots of Evidence Makgopa and Tshepang Moremi, with both misplacing their attempts at goal. Against the run of play, Arrows were the ones who managed to make changes to the scoreline, doing so in the 72nd minute when Angelo van Rooi shook off a challenge on the left before setting up Philani Khumalo who made no mistake from close range. Their celebrations would be short-lived however as replacement striker Yanela Mbuthuma made an immediate impact at the other end to restore the Buccaneers' lead within two minutes of conceding. The 23-year-old was positioned perfectly in front of the home side's goal when he received a pass from fellow substitute Thalente Mbatha before taking a single touch to send the ball trickling over the goal line to make it 2-1. Pirates contended with a few nervy moments late on in the encounter, but were able to come out unscathed. With time running out, they went in search of another goal to create daylight between themselves and the opposition. Once more, it was a late introduction that produced the magic as Relebohile Mofokeng announced his return rather spectacularly with a clever chip to find Mbuthuma who took a few touches before firing in from close range in the 87th minute. There were some bright moments late on from the hosts, but none yielded any significant efforts at reducing the deficit. In the end, there wasn't much to deter Pirates from controlling the rest of the contest, and they eventually succeeded in doing so and clinching their seventh win in a row against the men from KwaZulu-Natal. Pirates XI: Chaine, Seema, Sibisi, Lebitso, Ndaba, Nduli (Mbatha 45+2'), Mbule (Maswanganyi 64'), Nemtajela, Appollis (Mbokazi 80'), Moremi (Mofokeng 80'), Makgopa (Mbuthuma 64').