A goal in the 70th minute by midfielder Thulasizwe Mbuyane earned Orlando Pirates their first Absa Premiership win of the season when they downed Moroka Swallows in a rain-soaked Soweto derby played at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.
It was the Bucs second successive win in all competitions after a poor start to their campaign. Last Sunday Bucs scored a hard-fought 1-0 win over Thanda Royal Zulu in KwaMashu to reach the quarterfinals of the Telkom Knockout.
That win obviously helped beef up the confidence in the camp and on the night Pirates were good value for their three points.
Bucs coach Ruud Krol, who had been under fire to get a win over Swallows, delivered when it mattered most. The Birds came into this match as favourites after beating Kaizer Chiefs 2-0 in the league and scoring a similar win over high-riding BidVest Wits in the Knockout at the weekend.
Neither side managed to master the wet conditions during a fast-flowing first half. The pouring rain made the pitch slippery and as a result few players could get proper control of the wet ball.
The players’ first touch on both sides let them down badly. Far too many passes and tackles went astray. But it was Pirates who resorted, in the beginning, to going for long-range shots. Bucs started to get their act together when Teko Modise tried his luck with a shot that sailed wide on 15 minutes.
Then his teammate, Dikgang Mabalane, shot straight at Birds keeper Greg Etafia in the 24th minute.
But the rain helped make matters exciting in the goal mouth as both sides had a shot cleared off the line.
Bucs defender Rooi Mahamutsa did well to boot a shot from Morgan Shivambu off his goal line in the 26th minute as the Birds started to put their hosts under pressure. Then it was Birds defender Vinicius da Silva’s turn to clear off his goal line when a Benson Mhlongo header was heading for the back of the Swallows net in the 31st minute.
David Radebe, who was the pick of the Birds attackers, was fractionally wide with a thunderbolt in the 38 minute that skimmed the post.
Then three minutes later Swallows midfielder Cecil Oerson forced Bucs keeper Moeneeb Josephs to fist away his dangerous shot four minutes from the break.
Oerson sent in a delightful cross that beat the Bucs defence and Josephs three minutes after the interval, which needed a simple tap-in, but none of his teammates read the cross and the ball slipped to safety.
Pirates went ahead when Mbuyane dribbled past two bemused defenders and unleashed a rocket that gave keeper Etafia no chance in the 70th minute, and sent the wet Pirates supporters in the 10 000 crowd wild with joy.
Swallows tried hard to come back into the match and it took a good save from Josephs to prevent substitute Ryan Botha levelling matters with a free kick from the edge of the penalty area on 79 minutes.
Etafia denied Modise an insurance goal with a brilliant save seven minutes from time as Bucs went for the kill. Mbuyane should have made it 2-0 in injury time when he beat the offside trap but chipped the ball past Etafia and the post.
In other Absa Premiership matches played on Wednesday: AmaZulu beat Ajax 2-0; Chiefs beat Bloemfontein Celtic 1-0; Golden Arrows and Thando Royal Zulu drew 2-2; Sundowns beat Wits 2-1; SuperSport crushed Maritzburg United 5-0; Santos beat Free state Stars 2-0; and Platinum Stars beat Bay United 3-0 — Sapa