SUNDOWNS SINK PIRATES

BITTER AND BETTER THAN SOWETO DERBY: Hlompho Kekana and Musa Nyatama during their PSL clash at Orlando Statium.

Maleka Charles

The struggling Mamelodi Sundowns finally broke the jinx at Orlando Stadium after going three matches without a win since October 17.

The Brazilians walloped Orlando Pirates 3-1 to move to number seven on the PSL log standing Wednesday night.

The African champions broke the dead lock in the first minutes of the first half, through Hlompho Kekana, whose shot hit Pirates defender Abbubaker Mobara before it could ricochet into the net, leaving Wayne Sandilands chasing the shadow of the ball.

In the 13th minutes Kekana again fired what looked like a cracker from the middle of the park sending the troubled Sandilands with the ball inside the net to make it 2-0 before the break.

The first half looked like a fight between the stalwart midfielder Hlompho Kekana and the former Downs shot stopper Sandilands, who was kept busy the entire first half.

As the midfielder continued to haunt the former Downs goalie with shots of mass destructions time after time, looking to increase his goal tally.

Orlando Pirates finally came to the party when Thembinkosi Lorch forced a free kick in the 38th minutes of the game, allowing Marc Van Heerden to score what seemed like the only goal for the host in the night to make it 2-1 before second half.

Orlando Pirates came back as a house on fire as they continued to search for an equalizer in the second half and controlled the game most of the time.

However, the Buccaneers fell by the wayside to utilize their chances sparingly, as Thabo Qalinge’s efforts looked somehow futile, after passing the ball around the Downs keeper Denis Onyango and failing to put it at the back of the net.

Although Pirates looked the more dangerous, it was the visitors who showed more hunger to win the game, as the late substitute Anthony Laffor scored a beautiful goal in the 79th minutes to hand Downs the most needed three points away from home in the fully packed Orlando Stadium.

The game that left many people crossing fingers whenever the two giants attacked each other, was lauded by soccer critics as bitter and better than Soweto derby.