Pirates beat Arrows to go three points clear in Diski Challenge

Orlando Pirates coach Joseph Makhanya has credited his bunch of youngsters for their recent impressive run that saw them opening a three-point gap at the top of the DStv Diski Challenge.

The Buccaneers made it two victories out of two this year when they brushed aside Golden Arrows on Saturday afternoon.

First-half goals from Simphiwe Selepe, Lonwabo Magugwana and Relebohile Mofokeng proved to be enough to earn them their 10th victory in 14 matches this season.

With Mamelodi Sundowns and Stellenbosch cancelling each other in a 1-1 draw earlier on the day, this means Pirates are now three points clear ahead of second-placed Stellenbosch.

Pirates have accumulated 32 points so far and without a doubt, they are hoping for a third time lucky after losing the title in the last two matches for the past two seasons.

Last weekend Pirates thumped Sundowns 4-1 and they maintained consistency in Clermont against Arrows.

Talking after the match, Makhanya admitted that it was a tough match for them and the fans should not be deceived by the score.

Makhanya explained: “We got a red card very early. I believe if we had not (got the red card) the score would have been better. We also had to make forced substitutions when Jabu Mokone got injured in the first half. We had to do a tactical change where we had to pull off Mpumelelo Ndaba and replace him with Dansin Cemran.

He added: “Credit to my players, they really fought hard. I am happy that we were able to get goals from all situations of the game, open play and set pieces.”

Arrows coach Japhet Zwane, on the other hand, admitted that Pirates was always going to be a hard nut to crack for them. But he believes they gave away the game.

“We gave away goals that we were not supposed to, and it became difficult to chase the game,” Zwane stated.

In the second half, Arrows tried to capitalise on numerical advantage, but their efforts went in vain.