The Orlando Pirates team has strengthened its position at the top of the Betway Premiership table by defeating Sekhukhune United FC 2-0 on Tuesday at the Orlando Amstel Arena stadium.
The Buccaneers achieved their second consecutive victory over Babina Noko after previously beating them in the first MTN8 semi-final match over the weekend. As a result, Pirates became the first team to accumulate ten points after the first four games of the season.
Premiership
With their main striker absent, Boitumelo Radiopane came onto the field and provided the breakthrough in the 36th minute. The 24-year-old player demonstrated excellent intuition in the penalty area, evading a defender in tight space before shooting into the lower corner of the goal guarded by Melusi Butelezi.
Radiopane scored his first goal in the starting lineup. After the break, Radiopane was once again in the spotlight for Pirates, creating another high-quality chance in the 62nd minute. The forward broke past the Sekhukhune defense line and showed impressive composure by passing to Oswin Apollos, who only needed to beat Butelezi.
The Bafana Bafana winger did not miss the opportunity, calmly finishing the attack and increasing Pirates' lead to two goals. This was another carefully planned move by Apollos, who had not played a full 90 minutes this season due to participation in the World Cup with Bafana.
The victory was secured in the second match between the teams within four days, and Pirates were once again too strong for Sekhukhune, which struggled to create clear scoring opportunities. Although Radiopane could have scored a brace, he selflessly passed the ball to the player celebrating his birthday.
The teams will meet for a third time next Saturday, when the winner of the MTN8 semi-final will be decided. Although Ouaddou made several changes to the squad that played in the first match, potentially aiming for the decisive second match, the rotation did not affect the overall structure of Pirates, who controlled the game and kept a clean sheet.
Sekhukhune coach Cedric Khase viewed this result as another defeat against the same team, despite his team showing improvements in certain periods during the first encounter. Now Pirates will focus on the MTN8, maintaining a 1-0 advantage before the second match against Babina Noko and confidence in another victory over them.