Mohau Nkota Mohau Nkota (left) is congratulated by Tapelo Xoki after scoring the winner for Orlando Pirates in Algeria. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
AFTER Tuesday’s gruelling outing against MC Alger in the first leg of the CAF Champions League quarter-finals in Algiers, Orlando Pirates’ technical team will have to apply some special measures to manage their squad over the next couple of days.
The Buccaneers will travel to Limpopo to face an unpredictable Polokwane City in the Premiership on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off), with the Algerians coming for blood in next Wednesday’s return leg at the Orlando Stadium after losing 1-0 in front of their capacity crowd on Tuesday night.
At least Saturday’s weather conditions are showing some calmness in Polokwane, with temperatures set to not exceed 23 degrees Celsius.
In fact, from midday, it should be cloudy, with a 60% chance of rain in the afternoon.
That should help Pirates after their travels to North Africa and back, where they had to work overtime to overcome Alger with a solo Mohau Nkota strike in the 65th minute.
Nkota had only been on the field for five minutes, after replacing Kabelo Dlamini, when he scored the all-important away goal for the Soweto giants.
Apart from the travelling, what will require Pirates players to be managed well in the coming days is the extra energy they expended in Algeria.
There was no shortage of drama at the 5 July 1962 Stadium.
From the first minute to the last, the Algerians were running hard at Pirates, and did not allow them a chance to play their game as they were not shy of even elbowing the visitors from time to time.
The Buccaneers, though, remained resolute, and showed no signs of losing their composure.
The likes of Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Nkosinathi Sibisi played their part as the solid elements in a five-man defence, which was completed by captain Tapelo Xoki, with Deano van Rooyen and Deon Hotto on the flanks.
The main duels involved Alger’s main striker, 20-year-old Mohamed Bangoura, and winger Zakaria Naidji.
Indeed, Bangoura, the man from Guinea, would learn the hard way that he was up against a different kind of opponent who handled him with a maturity he would not have expected.
Makhehlene Makhaula and Thalente Mbatha kept the midfield graft at the same level, as Dlamini linked up with ace forward Relebohile Mofokeng.
Another star of the show was Evidence Makgopa, who learned quickly that the shift would require more workmanship off the ball and staying deep as opposed to his preferred final third.
Goalkeeper Sipho Chaine was also called upon to make some desperate saves, especially in the first half, as Alger’s game-plan was to put Pirates on the back foot from early on.
It was a shift of proper suffering all-round for the Buccaneers, all the way up until the ‘Cocomelons’, youngsters Mofokeng and Nkota, combined to give the South African club that all important away goal.
Speaking on SABC Sport in a post-match interview, Chaine called upon his teammates to focus on the next 90 minutes as they are halfway through to the next round.
Pirates were the only team to win their away match in the first leg of the quarter-finals as they extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches in the competition this season.
Before that return leg, though, Polokwane present another hurdle for Pirates as they would want to follow up their 3-1 win over Richards Bay at the weekend with another positive result.
Rise and Shine are not short of positivity, as only a point separates them from third and fourth-placed Stellenbosch FC and TS Galaxy, who are level on 35.