Mofokeng, Appollis at the double as five-star Pirates remain two behind Sundowns

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Mofokeng, Appollis at the double as five-star Pirates remain two behind Sundowns
Relebohile Mofokeng celebrating a goal with his Orlando Pirates teammates.

Relebohile Mofokeng and Oswin Appollis played a starring role as Orlando Pirates thrashed Golden Arrows 5-0 to keep pressure on PSL leaders Mamelodi Sundowns on Tuesday.

Mofokeng, who scored a hat-trick in Pirates’ last game before the international break, netted a brace with Appollis doing the same at Orlando Stadium as Abdeslam Ouaddou’s side put Manqoba Mngqithi’s team to the sword.

Pirates had already won the game by the 35th minute with Mofokeng starting his scoring act in the 15th minute when he curled in beautifully.

Orlando Pirates fan

Tshepang Moremi did some good work on the right wing before squaring the ball to Mofokeng who was stationed just outside the box and the 21-year-old curled home into the top corner to get the stadium on its feet.

Pirates turn the screw on Arrows

Oswin Appollis and Tshepang Moremi then had a nice little exchange just outside the box before the latter crossed in low but Yanela Mbuthuma was not able to direct the ball into the net.

In the 29th minute, Pirates took their lead to 2-0 when Appollis picked the ball from outside the area and fired a ferocious low shot into the back of the net for his fifth league goal of the season.

The game would go beyond Arrows in the 35th minute following a great team goal from Pirates that was finished off through Masindi Nemtajela’s effort.

Pirates suffocated Arrows with good possession and when they got into the box, Nemtajela fired in and saw his shot deflect off Ayabulela Maxwele with goalkeeper Edward Maova making things worse by failing to get a strong hand on the ball as he watched it sail into the net.

Pirates took a commanding 3-0 lead into the break and upon resumption, they continued their brilliant show.

Mofokeng, Appollis seal brace

Oswin Appollis of Orlando Pirates
Oswin Appollis of Orlando Pirates.

In the 60th minute, Mofokeng picked the ball and made a good run into the box before firing from close range beyond Maova for his second of the game and Pirates’ fourth.

That took his tally for the season to 10 goals, nine in the league, and interestingly, all his PSL goals have come from his last 10 games.

It is a remarkable return from the youngster who is thriving in the No.10 role but he was not the only one with a brace as Appollis would later score the fifth for the Buccaneers.

Deep into stoppage time, Andre De Jong fired home but saw his shot hit the post only for the rebound to find an unmarked Appollis and he fired into an empty net for 5-0 and his sixth PSL goal of the season.

The big win sees Pirates remain two points behind Mamelodi Sundowns, who won 1-0 away to Durban City also on Wednesday.

Sundowns now have 56 points from 23 matches while Pirates have 54, making up an interesting title race in the final seven games of the season.

<!-- Author Start -->Joel Oliver<!-- Author End -->

Joel Oliver

Author

Joel Oliver is a seasoned multimedia sports journalist with a rich background in covering diverse football stories and events in South Africa and beyond.
His extensive coverage spans subjects touching on the PSL, with a focus on the Big Three (Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs & Mamelodi Sundowns), Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana.

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