The winger scored his third goal in as many matches for the Bucs who put Rise and Shine to the sword
Monnapule Saleng made it three goals in as many games as he scored a beauty while Evidence Makgopa netted twice to hand Orlando Pirates all three points in their PSL match against Polokwane City on Tuesday.
Pirates secured a 3-0 win against Rise and Shine at the Orlando Stadium to make it back-to-back victories in the league and they had the genius of Saleng and substitute Makgopa to thank.
With a first half where neither team had a shot on target, Pirates broke through thanks to a moment of brilliance from the winger.
Relebohile Mofokeng brought in a low cross from the left which was repelled and the ball returned to him. Spotting Saleng’s run, the 19-year-old squared the ball to him and the left-footed attacker beat his marker before firing from a tight angle at the near post to put Pirates in front.
Saleng’s goal came at a cost for Pirates
The goal celebration, however, came at a cost as Saleng seemed to have picked up an injury as he went off soon after holding his hamstring, to be replaced by Karim Kimvuidi.
Polokwane had the first attack of the game when Thabang Matuludi made a great run into the Pirates box but his pass was intercepted by Olisah Ndah.
Tshegofatso Mabasa then had a half chance for Pirates soon after but could not find the target before Kabelo Dlamini fired directly at the wall from a freekick.
The second half had few chances until Saleng’s goal after which Polokwane nearly grabbed the equaliser when Cole Alexander came close to scoring from a header before Ndah beat him to the ball.
How did Makgopa turn on the style?
Pirates coach Jose Riveiro then opted to close out the game by removing Dlamini for Makhehlene Makhaula before late subs saw Evidence Makgopa replace Mabasa while Nkosinathi Sibisi came in for Ndah.
Makgopa took less than five minutes to make his presence felt as he scored Pirates’ second goal.
Kimvuidi fired a thunderous shot from outside the ball which Polokwane goalkeeper Manuel Sapunga failed to gather and the ball fell to Makgopa who tapped into the net.
In the final moments of the match, Makgopa started a neat exchange of passes before he completed the move with another tap in for 3-0 in favour of the Buccaneers.