Orlando Pirates have good reason to believe that they can still make a push for the DStv Premiership title.
Pirates beat TS Galaxy 1-0 at Orlando Stadium on Saturday night to bag their fourth win in five matches. They are fifth on the log with 22 points.
And despite being eight points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have three games in hand, they are making a push for the title: winning games and making their home a fortress.
From their last five games, the Sea Robbers sailed to their third win in a row in Orlando on Saturday, while the other two ended in a win and draw respectively.
Strong message to Sundowns
It’s been a turnaround that will send a strong message to log leaders Sundowns that if they stutter going forward, Pirates could be on hand to capitalise and close the gap.
In the same breath, though, Pirates cannot get carried away and think that they’ve arrived - the win was impressive, but there’s still a room for improvement.
Jose Riveiro’s men struck in the first half courtesy of Deon Hotto’s free-kick but the match could have swung either way had Galaxy been clinical up front early on.
The Rockets were fresh from reaching their first final - via the Carling Knockout last weekend - since 2018 when they beat Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup final.
They seemed determined to build on their three-goal scoring spree against AmaZulu in the Carling Knockout semi-final win - albeit without striker Samir Nurkovic.
Against the run of play, Sphiwe Mahlangu showed his class as he unleashed a defence-splitting pass with a deft touch and body turn.
Lindokuhle Mbatha got at the end of ball to force Melusi Buthelezi into a save which he parried back into the path of Bradley Mojela who forced the Pirates goalie into another save.
Again, Buthelezi parried his save into the path of an opponent - and this time the instigator of the threat Mahlangu - but the Galaxy attacker sprayed his attempt wide.
Making up for lost time
Mahlangu had a chance to make up for lost time after he was teed-up with a through pass by Higor Vidal but he opted to round off Buthelezi until Makaringe recovered and cleared the danger.
Those missed chances made it seem that Galaxy missed Nurkovic who had scored a blinder against AmaZulu, but it gave confidence to Makaringe who was playing, again, playing at right back.
And having grown in confidence and escaped conceding by the skin of their teeth, Pirates needed a spectacular response to fully turn the tide around.
Hotto did just that, blasting a well-weighted free-kick through the wall and past a flat-footed Visilije Kolak as Pirates fully grabbed matters by the scruff of the neck.
It was a good response from Pirates who had also suffered the loss of Vincent Pule to yet another injury, having the attacker just made a long-awaited return to the pitch.
Pule’s replacement, Karim Kimvuidi, nearly proved that he was befitting of the cameo, putting through Relebohile Mofokeng with a no-look pass but the youngster’s shot was saved by Kolak.
In search of an equaliser, Galaxy’s coach Sead Ramovic threw his talisman Nurkovic and Mlungisi Mbunjana into the fray early in the second half.
The duo tried to make things happen for Galaxy but Pirates wore their warrior regalia, breaking lines with Kimvuidi and Hotto only to be let down by their non-existent strikers inside the box.
Pirates will eye another win away to Golden Arrows next week, while Galaxy must take positives from this match ahead of the Carling Knockout final against Stellenbosch in Durban.