Pirates close gap on Sundowns with win over Chippa

Orlando Pirates bounced back from the 2-0 defeat they suffered against Marumo Gallants at the weekend to beat Chippa United 1-0 in a Betway Premiership match played at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Gqeberha on Wednesday night.

The win, courtesy of man-of-the-match Nkosinathi Sibisi's glancing header off Relebohile Mofokeng's corner kick on the stroke of halftime, brings back hope that Pirates can continue to challenge log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns for the league title.

With these three points in the bag, Pirates are still 16 points behind Sundowns who were held to a 1-1 draw by Golden Arrows in one of the other matches on Wednesday.

Pirates will still fancy their chances as they still have four games in hand over the Brazilians. 

Pirates didn't start well in this match as it was Chippa who were buzzing and should have taken the lead in the fourth minute when Giovanni Philander had his free kick near the area narrowly missing the posts.

Philander had another chance to put the home side in the lead in the 25th minute but shot wide after finding himself with acres of space when young Pirates right-back Siyabonga Ndlozi was caught out of position.

These misses seemed to galvanise Pirates into action as they started to regain composure with Mofokeng, Tshegofatso Mabasa and Kabelo Dlamini starting to combine well with left-back Deon Hotto who was feeding them with some inviting balls.

Mabasa shot tamely after being put through by Dlamini in another move that involved Hotto in the 37th minute.

But Chippa were not so lucky in referee's optional time before the break as they allowed Sibisi to connect freely with Mofokeng's corner to give Bucs a deserved lead.

The second stanza was more open but still both teams failed to add to the score line as they lacked composure in taking their chances. 

For coach Pirates coach Jose Riveiro, the result would have been pleasing especially because he was forced to play without his suspended No. 1 goalkeeper Sipho Chaine and had Melusi Buthelezi in his place.

In central defence, Riveiro also chose to give Mbekezeli Mbokazi his debut and the young defender played well alongside his skipper Sibisi as the more experienced Tapelo Xoki was left among the substitutes. 

Pirates will hope for more success when they visit SuperSport United in Polokwane on Saturday in the last 8 of the Nedbank Cup, the cup the Buccaneers have won in the last two seasons.