Orlando Pirates cruise to 4-1 victory against Stellies

Orlando Pirates  cruised to a 4-1 victory over Stellenbosch in a  DStv Premiership clash yesterday at Orlando Stadium.

A clinical performance accompanied by goals from Thabang Monare, skipper Innocent Maela, Kermit Erasmus and Philip Ndlondlo ensured they got all three points on offer, pushing Pirates up to fourth place on the log with 25 points.

Pirates often find themselves dumbfounded against good defensive structures, however, against Stellies they looked comfortable, breaking their press and dislocating defensive mould with neat passing.

To open the game they needed to get a goal and it came as early as the seventh minute when Monare headed in a Ndlondlo free kick.

The goal allowed Bucs to further dictate the tempo of the match as the side from the Winelands had no threat up front without suspended talisman Junior Mendieta, who has a goal contribution of eight so far.

One of Pirates’ downfalls in recent seasons was their inability to finish games. This time around, they sucked the life of the match with a Maela goal, which came from Stellies goalkeeper Sage Stephens’s blunder. His failure to deal with a Monnapule Saleng cross presented Maela with a chance to kick the ball into an open net to give Bucs a two-goal lead going to the break.

In the second stanza, concerns about Pirates not converting their chances were answered when Erasmus placed a Saleng cross in goal and Ndlondlo’s low shot from outside the box made it 4-0.

Steve Barker’s side pulled one back to leave the score at 4-1; Mervin Boji directed Qobolwakhe’s corner past Chaine. Pirates controlled the game until the final whistle.

As a club trying to establish itself in the Premiership, Stellenbosh are paying the price of selling their best players as the team looks off, a shadow of the side that finished in fourth place last campaign. They face the prospect of being relegation contenders as they are in 15th place.