SuperSport United proved that lightning can strike twice in the same place after the reigning Absa Premiership champions defeated a sluggish Orlando Pirates 1-0 at the Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday night.
It was the perfect start to the second half of the league programme for United coach Gavin Hunt. United beat the Buccaneers 2-1 at the same venue earlier this season.
The defending champions never looked in any danger. Pirates, for their part, looked like they would rather still be on a Durban beach instead of getting wet and muddy at the damp and chilly Johannesburg Stadium.
They lead the standings with 27 points, one more than second-placed Ajax Cape Town, who face Thanda Royal Zulu in Durban on Sunday afternoon.
The match was the first of three fixtures at home for Bucs this week. This Wednesday they host Maritzburg United at the same venue and next Saturday are at home to Golden Arrows.
Pirates looked like they were still thinking about their Christmas holidays. They were slower to the ball and lacked the urgency of United.
United went ahead in the 13th minute when Morgan Gould flicked on Zongo Masibusane’s corner and Rudi Isaacs headed home with a shot that gave Bucs keeper Moeneeb Josephs no chance. The poor marking inside the six-yard area by the Bucs defenders allowed Isaacs to get in a free header and the United midfielder made no mistake putting the defending champions into the lead.
Bucs struggled to cope with United’s set pieces and Isaacs just failed to get a touch to a free kick that beat the Pirates defence at the near post on 20 minutes.
Bucs fought back and United goalkeeper Denis Onyango was forced to parry a Teko Modise free kick in the 26th minute. Three minutes later Modise had a shot cleared in a goal-mouth scramble as the home side
pushed hard for the equaliser.
Bucs midfielder Lebogang Mothibantwa wasted a chance to level the score in the 33rd minute. The former Bloemfontein Celtic midfielder latched on to a poor clearance but his effort sailed into the fans behind the United goal.
Modise was the busiest of the Pirates players. The midfield maestro forced Onyango to fist away his shot in the 38th minute.
But United could have gone into the break 2-0 up had their new striker Norman Smith not missed a gilt edged chance three minutes from the interval. Smith, signed during the week from Thanda Royal Zulu, would have made the perfect debut when he found himself inside the Bucs penalty area unmarked but he sliced his shot fractionally wide of the upright.
Bucs looked sharper at the start of the second half. But again their finishing let them down. Bucs created an early chance in the second half when veteran striker Gilbert Mushangazhike’s clever back heel was met by Thembile Konono who blasted over the United crossbar a minute after the restart. It was Zimbabwean international Mushangazhike’s only real contribution in a below par performance.
But United were also guilty of wasting gifts. Masibusane collected the loose ball after Bucs skipper Lehlohonolo Seema slipped near the halfway line, but the United midfielder lost possession when he should have buried the ball in the back of the Pirates net in the 51st minute.
Fikru Tefera, who had earlier replaced Smith, shot wide of the Bucs goal with his first touch in the 68th minute, hoping to end his 14-match goal drought.
Bucs’ best chance fell to midfielder Benson Mhlongo who met a Modise cross in the 85th minute, but the former Bafana Bafana anchorman failed to get any power behind his close-range shot that failed to trouble Onyango.
Then the 12 000 partisan fans could not believe it when Bucs substitute Siphelele Mthembu inched a shot centimetres past the woodwork with three minutes remaining as Bucs tried to salvage a point. – Sapa