Orlando Pirates star Patrick Maswanganyi is the man of the moment after scoring the winner against Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto Derby – but he was not the only hero.
ORLANDO PIRATES 1-0 KAIZER CHIEFS
Following the late odd goal winner, coach Jose Riveiro praised his Man of the Match midfielder Makhehleni Makhaula for a stellar performance. “His game today I think was second to none,” Riveiro said to SuperSport TV after the game.
“It’s something else. He was pushing the team in the bad moments, he was helping a lot to collect those second balls, and carried the ball forward. He’s playing excellent football, hopefully he can continue like that for a long time,” concluded the Orlando Pirates mentor.
ORLANDO PIRATES MIDFIELDER DELIGHTS OUPA MANYISA
This Orlando Pirates star will feel very confident in himself after reading this post before facing the mighty Mamelodi Sundowns this weekend.
Speaking to the media before the Soweto Derby, the Buccaneers legend Manyisa revealed that Relebohile Mofokeng and Mohau Nkota are key players, but his favourite is Thalente Mbatha. “Yeah, he is more underrated, but you know as fans or football lovers we look at football in a different way that’s why for me it’s simpler because I used to play in that position,” said Manyisa via iDiski Times.
The former Orlando Pirates midfielder added: “I can see the way he plays and the way he conducts himself. He reminds me of myself, he makes things simple. You will never see him going up and down. He is always available when the team plays and when the team has to defend, he is always there as well.”
FRIENDSHIP WITH THABO CELE
Kaizer Chiefs have made an exciting new signing in Thabo Cele. The name is no stranger to Orlando Pirates‘ Thalente Mbatha.
Speaking to the media before the Soweto Derby, Mbatha (24) confirmed that Cele (28) is his homeboy from Durban’s KwaMashu. “I could say that me and Thabo grew up in the same environment, coz he’s from where I’m from KwaMashu,” Mbatha said via iDiski Times. “He’s a person who’s really passionate about soccer even back ekasi [township], he would create groups and say, ‘Let’s go play gents it’s off seasons’.
“We talk. We normally talk when one person is not playing where we relating as footballers,” Mbatha added. Even though we don’t talk everyday, but we do talk on WhatsApp. We do call each other, video call whenever one person is going through the most I would say. Yeah, so he’s the really the person that I’m close to that I talk to,” concluded the Orlando Pirates midfielder.
