The destiny of the Betway Premiership title is still firmly in Orlando Pirates’ hands after they beat relegation-threatened Magesi FC 3-0 at Peter Mokaba Stadium to remain three points behind leaders and defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Sundowns beat Siwelele FC with a PSL record-breaking score of 7-4 earlier in Pretoria on Saturday.
Pirates’ biggest advantage over Sundowns is their superior goal difference, which is accompanied by a game in hand. In total Pirates are left with two games, with the penultimate one at home to Durban City while the last one is away to top-tier rookies Orbit College.
Sundowns will finish their league campaign with an away encounter to TS Galaxy on Tuesday, five days before they face Moroccan club AS FAR in the first leg of the Caf Champions League final in Pretoria.
In 28 games Pirates have scored 56 goals and conceded 12, while Sundowns, in 29 matches, have scored 55 and conceded 18, which gives the Buccaneers a cushion of seven goals.
With victories over City and Orbit, the Buccaneers will win the South African championship for the first time since 2012, and if they do, they will break Sundowns’ stranglehold on the domestic league that saw them claiming it in the past eight seasons, a record that will take some doing for any other club to break.
The match in Polokwane started in a scrappy way, with both sides not really making a real threat to score, but when Patrick Maswanganyi danced through a cluster of Magesi defenders, he managed to finish with aplomb to give the visitors a deserved 1-0 lead in the 8th minute.
It took only seven minutes for Pirates to extend their lead, this time their talisman Relebohile Mofokeng finding Maswanganyi with a delightful cross. Maswanganyi’s shot was blocked but fell nicely onto the feet of Kamogelo Sebelebele, who blasted the ball home from the edge of the area to bring much relief to Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou.
Sebelebele won what looked like a soft penalty when he fell inside the area while fighting for the ball with Magesi defender Mzwandile Buthelezi on the hour mark, giving Oswin Appollis a chance to score his ninth league goal of the season.
While Magesi coach Allan Freese made eight changes to his previous starting line-up, Ouaddou hardly did, such as he started in attack with Mofokeng, Oswin Appollis and Vincent Makgopa, who were backed in the middle by Maswanganyi, Thalente Mbatha and Makhehlene Makhaula, the players he has believed in the most this season.
The defeat leaves Magesi (21 points) in a tight spot, as they now need to win their last two league matches against Siwelele FC (away) and Richards Bay (home) and hope that Chippa United (25), Orbit (24) and Marumo Gallants (23) don’t win theirs if they are to avoid straight relegation.
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