Tshegofatso Mabasa’ hattrick goal for Orlando Pirates against Baroka in the Nedbank Cup on Saturday saw the Buccaneers put together 36 passes in the build-up.
It was masterful display of passing as Baroka could not get near the ball with Pirates moving it around with aplomb before Patrick Maswanganyi fed it into Mabasa to make it 3-0 after 63 minutes.
#NedbankCup 🏆
— Orlando Pirates (@orlandopirates) February 15, 2025
⏲️55' | @orlandopirates 2 v 0 @Baroka_FC
🥅'29, '46 Mabasa
⚫⚪🔴⭐ #OrlandoPirates #OnceAlways pic.twitter.com/p7Per6Wm63
Mabasa became the first Pirates player to score a hattrick in the national cup competition since Sibusiso Zuma got three against Olympics – a 9-0 victory which remains Pirates’ record victory.
Mabasa has now got two hattricks this season after also scoring the league against Marumo Gallants on Christmas Eve, when Pirates won 8-1.
Mabasa is closing in on a club record that has stood for almost two decades as he took his tally for the club to 43, putting him just nine behind their all-time leading scorer in the Premier Soccer League, Benedict Vilakazi.
It's a HAT-TRICK for Mabasa ⚽⚽⚽
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) February 15, 2025
Is this the pick of the bunch? 🤩👇
📺 Stream #NedbankCup on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/T5TzEXiKK7
His 43 goals have come from 58 starts across all competitions, and 114 appearances in all.
He needs another nine to match Vilakazi, and 10 to go past him. If Pirates reach the final of the Nedbank Cup and the Champions league, they have 25 fixtures remaining.
Pirates have now scored in 49 of their past 51 Nedbank Cup ties with the only two games in which they failed to score coming against SuperSport United in 2015 and Cape Town City three years later. They lost both games 1-0.