Gqeberha – Jose’ Riveiro’s Orlando Pirates suffered a second humbling experience this season as Morgan Mammila’s Chippa United maintained their unbeaten record in the DStv Premiership.
The Buccanneers had to settle for the share of the points against Chippa as Goodman Mosele helped his team to a 1-1 draw in Gqeberha.
The stage was set for an epic encounter in the windy city as South Africa’s most improved and exciting team, Pirates.
Anticipating an entertaining 90-minutes of football, the friendly city showed up and showed off in numbers to witness a revamped Pirates outfit under coach Riveiro.
Heading into the mid-week fixture at Nelson Mandela Stadium, Orlando Pirates coach Riveiro warned his players of being complacent following their victory against Sekhukhune United over the weekend.
The Buccaneers were praised for displaying an attractive product on the pitch in both the DSTV Premiership and the MTN8 quarterfinals, but Riveiro reminded his players of their disappointing loss to Stellenbosch in an attempt to keep them level-headed going into an important fixture.
GOODMAN MOSELE 🚀
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) August 15, 2023
Fans, coach, and goalkeeper all with the celebrations for Chippa United 😂
📺 Stream #DStvPrem live: https://t.co/TesYUfo62x pic.twitter.com/S9yOnAcp24
To start things off, Riveiro opted for Bandile Shandu as a right back option, leaving Paseka Mako who started over the weekend against Sekhukhune in the bench.
Deon Hotto too started on Tuesday night, getting the nod ahead of Thabiso Monyane.
From the moment the match started, it was clear that Riveiro’s message to his players had sunk in as they picked up where they left off in their five-nil whitewash of Sekhukhune at Orlando Stadium.
Monnapule Saleng and Shandu quickly made inroads into the Chippa United defence, putting Justice Chabalala and the entire Chilli Boys defence under immense pressure early on in the encounter.
To the Buccaneer fan’s delight, the combination of Shandu and Saleng in the right wing eventually paid off with Shandu scoring the opener courtesy of yet another Saleng assist, putting the visitors in front 24-minutes into the clash.
Throughout the opening half, the 'Chilli Boys' exposed Pirates’ vulnerability to the counter-attack but time and again, Augustine Mulenga and the home team’s attackers crumbled under pressure, failing to convert their rare opportunities in front of goal.
However, when the second half got underway, Mammila’s Chippa United upped the tempo and gave the ‘Happy people’ a good run for their money.
Mulenga was the chief attacker, often putting the Pirates defence under immense pressure with his incredible skill display and raw pace.
With the pressure the ‘Chilli Boys’ were exerting on the visitors, something just had to give and it was Goodman Masele who calmly scored the equalizer to give the home fans something to smile about.
It was a stinging experience for Riveiro and his men after they let Masele go during the transfer window, but the equaliser certainly set the game up for a thrilling finish with more than 20 minutes left in the match.
The equaliser and the counterattacks from Chippa simply broke the visitors’ spirits and it was an all Chippa show from that point onwards.
Under pressure, the visitors broke down, lost shape and the three yellow cards in the second half told of their inability to handle the relentless pressure from the ‘Chilli Boys’.
Most importantly, the one-all result proved that Riveiro’s attractive football is far from being a finished article and for Mammila and his team, the result will certainly give them a confidence boost ahead of their clash against defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns in Saturday.
@OngamaGcwabe