DURBAN - Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer was happy with his team after they secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
Though they were helped by some poor defensive work from the Chilli Boys, Zinnbauer's charges dominated their Eastern Cape opposition in every area of the game which was a one-sided affair from start to finish.
“I am happy with this result. The team were good today in terms of defence and attack. I was happy that Fortune (Makaringe) and Deon (Hotto) scored again. Ben Motshwari is starting to play as a midfielder and he also managed to score. We were 100% in terms of our performance in the first half. In the second half, we started good. We wanted a counter attack, dropping a little bit more and staying compact. Vincent Pule had a good opportunity to score, but the keeper (Ayanda Mtshali) made a good save. We said that if we scored the third goal, we would be cautious and save our energy for the next game,” said Zinnbauer.
The result also led to the Sea Robbers moving into second place on the Premiership standings and usurping out-of-form SuperSport United who have slipped to third.
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Pirates have now won back-to-back league games and three out of their last four games in the Premiership. They are just one point adrift of league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, albeit having played four games more.
While Pirates have not tasted league title success since 2012, the current crop of players did prove that they are good enough to win trophies by claiming the MTN8 earlier this season.
While they will fancy their chances of winning the championship this season, they will need to be on top of their game, whilst hoping that Sundowns drop points. Though Pirates are only one point behind Sundowns, the Brazilians will still be fairly comfortable with the knowledge that they have played four games less than their nearest rivals.
Zinnbauer's side's next assignment will be a potentially challenging encounter against Algerian club ES Setif at Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana.