Wednesday night’s league clash between Golden Arrows and Orlando Pirates at King Zwelithini Stadium pits the best attack and the best defence in the league in recent games, a recipe for a thrilling encounter.
Arrows have scored an impressive 11 goals in their last four league matches, while Pirates’ defence has only been breached once in their last four Betway Premiership outings.
One of Arrows’ key players so far has been striker Junior Dion, who’s found the back of the net seven times in the league, to be among the league’s top-scorers.
Abafana Bes’thende mentor Manqoba Mngqithi has no doubt the Ivorian will score more goals, provided he stays injury-free. Mngqithi reserved special praise for “focused” Dion, lauding his professionalism.
“My only fear with Dion not maintaining his scoring form is injury. If Dion stays injury-free, he will continue to score goals. He’s probably one of the most focused players I have worked with,” Mngqithi said of Dion.
“In every meeting we have, he’s always number one [the first one to arrive]. In training, if we’re starting at 8am, at 7.30am he’s already there, and that mentality I think is engraved within him because every time he’s number one.”
Mngqithi is also of the view that God is rewarding Dion for the way he carries himself, likening his traits to those of his former charge at Mamelodi Sundowns, Peter Shalulile, who recently broke the PSL all-time goals record.
“Those traits can never go unnoticed, and God has got a funny way of generating luck for people like that. That’s what Peter has also benefited from,” the Arrows coach said.
“Peter, you can say whatever you want to say about his shortcomings here and there, but because of his level of professionalism and desire to perform at the highest level, that’s why God has given him what he’s given him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Dion can also benefit from that.”
Arrows haven’t lost a league game at King Zwelithini Stadium this term, winning all five of the matches they’ve played there. However, Mngqithi has downplayed that ahead of Pirates’ visit.
“If we play with the mentality that we can’t lose here, it’d be like a drunk man who says, ‘I don’t want to fall,’ because now the focus shifts away from just playing your normal game,” the Arrows trainer said.
Wednesday night’s league fixtures (all at 7.30pm)
Arrows v Pirates, King Zwelithini; Sundowns v Galaxy, Loftus Versfeld; Stellenbosch v Siwelele, Athlone.
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