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Pirates dent Wits' aspirations
17/02/2008 16:33 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates continued their march up the PSL table with a lacklustre 2-0 victory over fellow Premiership title chasers Wits at Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday.
Teko Modise netted a splendid free-kick in the 55th minute and Tebogo Mashaba confirmed victory with a strike 10 minutes from full-time.
Former Zimbabwe international striker Gilbert Mushangazhike missed the first chance of the game when he headed right-back Kelebogile Mabe's cross over the goalposts from six yards out. Pirates' attacks looked promising but it did not amount to much.
Modise was closely watched by Phil Evans and Ashraf Hendricks but still managed to set the scene alight with some nifty footwork. His passes though were easily cut out or wasted by the poor touches of his teammates.
Bucs winger Joseph Makhanya often played back when the team moved forward purposely. Wits though packed their defence and made it difficult for Bucs to get a shot at goal.
The visitors also hardly got a chance to shoot at goal. Richard Rantjie had the best chance for Wits but Bucs keeper Senzo Meyiwa was quick off his line and denied him with a fine save. Wits man-marking frustrated Pirates and their 6 000 or so fans became restless.
With the start of the second half Bucs coach Owen da Gama introduced striker Excellent Walaza and gave the Ghost reason to be optimistic.
Five minutes later Neil Winstanley went hard in on Walaza near the left touchline and referee Abdul Ibrahim awarded a free-kick. Modise stepped up to take it and sent the ball curling into Moeneeb Josephs far corner.
This injected some vigour in to Pirates and they foraged forward but again met with the stern Wits defence. The Clever Boys pushed up hastily for the equaliser but Happy Jele and Tshepiso Tshabalala were quick in defence, clearing a goalbound strike by Phil Evans off the line.
The match fell into the monotonous mode of the first as both teams struggled to impose themselves. The crowd went quiet but Da Gama seemed to have the right tonic for them as he introduced another affirmative substitution.
Tebogo Mashaba came on for Makhanya in the 77th minute and three minutes later he scored. Walaza sent a cross in to the box which Mushangazikhe headed high in the air, but as it dropped Mashaba missed at the first attempt but then sweetly struck it low and hard past Josephs.
Wits, third on the log with 29 points, failed to show why they're gunning for the league title while Da Gama's charges, although listless on the night, are five points behind the leaders Ajax Cape Town who have 35.
Said Da Gama: "I'm happy with the result but happier that teams are finding it hard to score past us. I felt Chabalala did an excellent job when he came on for Seema at half-time."
De Sa was disappointed. "We had chances to get a result tonight but we did not take them, a few were cleared off the line but if you don't score against a team like Pirates they will punish you, which they did tonight."
- SuperSport
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