Pirates all at sea against SuperSport

It was raining goals at Loftus as SuperSport United put six past Orlando Pirates in their Absa Premiership encounter.

SuperSport United (0) 6

Letsholonyane 52, Boxall 54, 56, Phala 63, Grobler 74, Brockie 88

Orlando Pirates (1) 1Ndoro 42

In a television post-match interview shortly after this Absa Premiership clash, Muhsin Ertugral suggested he would resign this morning following this embarrassing result in which Orlando Pirates stumbled to their second league defeat of the season at the hands of a rampant SuperSport United side – probably the worst kind of thrashing for the Buccaneers in the PSL era.

“I have no thoughts. I am ashamed of this result. I have never seen a disastrous 45 minutes like that in any of the teams I have coached. I can only speak to my chairman and put my resignation on the table,” said Ertugral in a television post-match press conference.

Pirates drowned in the Nelspruit rain on Tuesday night when they were thumped by the heaviest of margins away from home. It was no secret that Ertugral’s men had been struggling in the lead up to this clash against an in-form SuperSport team, but the scoreline certainly surprised many, especially considering that Pirates dominated the first half and went into the break a goal up courtesy of a Tendai Ndoro strike, a player who went on to miss from the penalty spot, but the game was over as a contest by then.

What followed shortly after the two teams emerged from the dugout was an unimaginable catastrophe, with SuperSport scoring four goals in a space of 10 minutes and a fifth – as well as a sixth – coming a few minutes later. Ertugral decided to go for continuity by picking the same starting line-up as the one he opted for against Kaizer Chiefs in the goalless Soweto Derby on Saturday night. It seemed to be working in the opening stages of this enthralling encounter as they came within inches of breaking the deadlock early through Mpho Makola and then Riyaad Norodien. With SuperSport forced to make an early change when Cole Alexander limped off in the 17th minute, the Buccaneers would have felt they had the edge as the opposition game plan took a blow. And Ndoro’s strike, taking the forward’s tally this season to seven goals in an equal number of matches, suggested they were not finished.

But in fact, SuperSport were the team to serve up more. At 34, Reneilwe Letsholonyane looked like a spring chicken in midfield for SuperSport as his Pirates counterparts failed to keep up. The former Chiefs player equalised and then set up defender Michael Boxall to give Matsatsantsa the lead, before the same player added another just minutes later. Thuso Phala then pitched in with a thunderous strike, while Bradley Grobler and Jeremy Brockie also joined in the fun.

Pirates were struggling to contain this SuperSport team, their movement off and on the ball a lot sharper – and it could have been worse. Brighton Mhlongo, the Buccaneers goalkeeper also has to shoulder the blame for some pretty awful decisions, like when he was beaten on the near post by Letsholonyane and also opting to punch the ball away instead of handling it leading up to Phala’s strike out the box.

It was probably the worst defeat for Pirates in the PSL era and it is understandable why Ertugral felt he could not continue being in the dugout.

Independent Media