Pirates on top of log after beating City in Durban

Orlando Pirates went three points clear of champions Mamelodi Sundowns on top of the Betway Premiership log after beating Durban City 2-0 at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday to register their ninth league victory in 12 matches.

The only blot in Pirates’ campaign remains their two losses they suffered against Sekhukhune United and Marumo Gallants in the opening matches and a 1-1 draw away to Sundowns early in November. If they maintain their league form in 2026, South Africa may have new league champions for the first time in nine seasons.

The first 20 minutes of this encounter belonged to Gavin Hunt’s City side as they frustrated the visitors, even forcing their dependable defenders to make some rare errors.

City should have gone ahead in the third minute when Haashim Domingo’s corner kick found DR Congo striker Jean Lubumba who was unfortunate to see his header go wide. The biggest of City’s chances before Pirates took the lead was again missed by Lubumba who couldn’t extract the ball under his feet after being fed by his striking partner Trevor Mokwena.

Mokwena had done well to rob an over confident Mbekezeli Mbokazi of possession inside the area in the 17^th minute but Lubumba failed to capitalise. Mbokazi had returned to the Pirates starting XI after missing the Bucs’ midweek game against Chippa United which came a day after he was reported to be on his way to Chicago Fire in the MLS in the USA in a deal said to be worth over R51m.

Pirates’ lead in this match came from the magic feet of Relebohile Mofokeng who weaved his way past a couple of defenders on the left side before delivering a pass to striker Evidence Makgopa to tap in his third league goal of the season in 11 matches.

In contrast, Pirates were to dominate the entire second 45 minutes and should have increased their lead through Tshepang Moremi and substitute Oswin Appollis. But those misses were all forgotten when Patrick Maswanganyi eventually doubled Pirates’ lead after getting a final ball from Appollis after another free-flowing interchange of passes by Pirates players.

That goal was the last contribution for Maswanganyi as Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouadoou, possibly already thinking about next week’s Carling Knockout Cup final against Gallants, withdrew him for Kabelo Dlamini a minute after scoring.

This was Pirates’ last league match in 2025 as all the PSL clubs will take an early break due to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations starting towards the end of December in Morocco.