Mofokeng leads Pirates comeback against Chiefs in Soweto derby

The Citizen

03-05-2025

Relebohile Mofokeng scored the winning goal for the Buccaneers.
Relebohile Mofokeng celebrates goal during the Betway Premiership 2024/25 match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Orlando Pirates came back from a goal down to beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 in a Betway Premiership match played at the sold-out FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
With fans coming in late at the stadium the game was delayed for 30 minutes to allow them to get into the stadium.
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Glody Lilepo gave Amakhosi the perfect start to the match when he found the back of the net in as early as the second minute of the match.
Following the lead, Chiefs took control of the match and put Pirates under pressure early on, but the Buccaneers found their rhythm as the game progressed and created opportunities of their own.
A mistake in the middle of the park by Mduduzi Shabalala led to the equaliser for Pirates in the 24th minute.
The young forward made a wrong decision to pass the ball on the left instead of the right where Gaston Sirino was free and the ball was intercepted by Thalente Mbatha who passed it to Mohau Nkota. Nkota then laid a perfect cross for Makgopa to head it home.
Tapelo Xoki almost put the Buccaneers in the lead with a header seven minutes later, but Bruce Bvuma did well to tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.
Makgopa also wasted a good chance to grab a brace and put Pirates in the lead after beating Edmilson Dove to the ball with a clever chip but rushed his shot and the ball went wide of goal.
Mbekezeli Mbokazi almost gave Chiefs the lead on the stroke of half-time when he tried to clear the ball, but instead directed the ball to his own net, but Sipho Chaine pulled off a good save to make sure that the teams were locked at 1-1 at the break.
Pirates coach Jose Riveiro replaced Paseko Mako with Kabelo Dlamini at the start of the second half, while his Chiefs counterpart Nasreddine Nabi kept the team that had started the game.
Dlamini almost made an immediate impact to the game when he was found by Relebohile Mofokeng inside the box, but his shot went inches over the crossbar with Bvuma well-beaten.
Pirates' pressure finally paid off as Mofokeng found a loose ball inside the Chiefs' penalty area and he slotted the ball home to put the Buccaneers in the lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Chiefs in referee's optional time when Bradley Cross was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
In the end the Buccaneers took maximum points and the bragging rights in the Soweto derby.