5 things learned as Pirates beat AmaZulu in TKO

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Orlando Pirates took a step closer to ending their four-year trophy drought as they secured progression to the semi-finals of the Telkom Knockout. FourForTwo SA writer DEAN WORKMAN picks out fives things we learned from the 3-1 win over AmaZulu.

1) Pirates remain reliant on Pule but Lorch’s emergence offers hope

Vincent Pule has hit the ground running at the Soweto giants following his arrival from Bidvest Wits and has quickly turned into Sredojevic’s talisman.

The Bafana Bafana winger scored the winner in last weekend’s win over rivals Kaizer Chiefs and was involved in the action yet again as his perfectly timed and weighted through ball sent Thembinkosi Lorch through for the game’s opener.

Although the Pirates coaching staff will be pleased by the form of their new star, the over-reliance on Pule may just worry them equally.

That worry, however, could be quelled by Lorch’s return to form. The Bafana Bafana winger scored a brace against AmaZulu and could have easily added another as he was one of the driving forces behind the Pirates victory.

2) Bucs look susceptible to set pieces

AmaZulu threatened from set-plays throughout the encounter as former Pirates defender Mark van Heerden produced some top-quality deliveries from dead ball situations.

It was from such a situation that the Buccaneers conceded the first half equaliser as Bonginkosi Ntuli was afforded a free header inside the six-yard box despite a number of black shirts around him.

The poor marking and organisation from set-plays would have frustrated the Pirates technical team who would of undoubtedly worked on such situation during training.

3) Johnson’s men show some fight

Usuthu have had a disastrous start to the 2018/19 campaign after their six points deduction, following a ruling by Fifa over a dispute of unpaid wages, saw them face an uphill battle despite winning two of their opening three matches in the league.

Since those victories Johnson’s men have struggled for three points but would undoubtedly be buoyed by their showings in the cup with an impressive 2-0 victory over Cape Town City in the round-of-16 before taking Pirates all the way to extra-time.

Jonhson will be hoping his team will draw from their cup showings and reproduce those performances in the league as they look to claw their way off the bottom of the table.

4) Shonga still searching for his scoring touch

The 21-year-old has struggled in front of goals for the Sea Robbers so far this season with the Zambian only netting once in his 12 appearance in all competitions.

Shonga, who had a couple of high profile misses last weekend against Kaizer Chiefs including a missed penalty, again proved wasteful in front of goal as he failed to score a guilt edge chance which would have won the game for Pirates in the final minutes of normal time.

5) Pirates are a camp united

The spirit created in the Orlando Pirates team by Sredojevic and his assistant Rulani Mokwena is something to be admired. Not only are the first team regulars performing well but they are quite clearly backed by the entire squad.

This unity is evident by the celebrations on the field and the bench whenever Pirates score a goal or seal a result and was again present as they were made to fight it out in extra-time to eventually beat Usuthu.

Micho and Rulani will be hoping to build on this unity which will be needed throughout the squad when the Caf Champions League kicks off in December and the Buccaneers will need to make use of the entire squad if they are going to challenge on all fronts this season.

Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

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Dean Workman