By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Orlando Pirates will be chasing a league ‘double’ over archrivals Kaizer Chiefs for the first time since 2008/09 when the teams meet in a DStv Premiership clash at the FNB Stadium on the afternoon of Saturday 9 March 2024.
Pirates missed out on the chance to go second on the log in midweek when they were held 1-1 at home by Cape Town Spurs.
The Bucaneers are unbeaten across all competitions since the turn of the year, but the draw with Spurs extended a disappointing run in the league which has seen them win just once in their last five matches.
The team in black and white are placed fifth on the Premiership table, with 30 points from 19 matches.
Chiefs, meanwhile, were able to return to winning form when they defeated Golden Arrows 1-0 in midweek, with Wandile Duba’s early strike proving to be the difference between the teams.
The result will come as a relief to the Amakhosi, who have been under major pressure from fans after three successive 0-0 draws since the turn of the year – including a dismal exit from the Nedbank Cup at the hands of lower league Milford FC.
The team in gold and black are placed sixth on the Premiership table, with 29 points from 19 matches.
Previous meetings
In head-to-head stats, Pirates and Chiefs have met in 76 league matches dating back as far as 1985. The Amakhosi have claimed 31 wins compared to 17 for the Buccaneers, while 28 games have been drawn.
When the teams met earlier this season, in November 2023, Pirates claimed a 1-0 win thanks to a 20th minute strike from Evidence Makgopa. The result broke a streak of five successive league wins for Chiefs in this rivalry.
Should the Buccaneers win this clash, it will see them record a league ‘double’ over their rivals for the first time since the 2008/09 season. In that campaign, Pirates won 2-0 away in November 2008 and 2-1 at home in May 2009, with goals from Gilbert Mushangazhike, Lucas Thwala and Katlego Mashego.
What the teams are saying
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro on the need to improve compared to their midweek showing:
“[The 1-1 draw with Spurs was] one of our worst games ever. Difficult to swallow, difficult to understand,” said the Spanish tactician.
He went on to add: “It’s not easy, I’m not saying it’s easy, but we need to try, we need to be more brave, we need to more dynamic, much more active and not speculate with the result because it’s not the first time that this happened to us and it seems that we didn’t learn so much from the last time.”
Kaizer Chiefs interim coach Cavin Johnson knows that they could move closer to a coveted finish if they get the better of the Buccaneers tomorrow”
That’s one of the club objectives (returning to Africa). It has been for a while,” Johnson said at the pre-match media conference in Sandton yesterday.
“If we are able to do this on Saturday, it will just give us a lot more to play for, so that we can end up as high as we can in the league.”
“I think there’s still about 11 games left. So, if we do get a positive result tomorrow, which we are hoping for, it will put us in a good position going forward.”