Former Orlando Pirates striker Katlego Mashego has expressed his
disappointment in his former club’s narrow 1-0 loss to arch-rivals Kaizer
Chiefs in the Soweto derby last Wednesday. The Buccaneers have now lost
five consecutive games against Chiefs in the league, with a last-gasp own
goal by Olisa Ndah handing the Glamour Boys maximum points and the
bragging rights.
Mashego believes his former club lacked players with the necessary big
match temperament, and that players like Kermit Erasmus should not have
been left on the bench. He told SAFM Sport On: “Ja, it’s a bit of a
setback, a derby is something else, every player wants to play in the
derby. I’m sure the training sessions during the week were a bit intense,
because people always want to be involved in a derby. But Pirates also
they win games that they are supposed to win, you know, but they don’t
have that big game temperament.”
Erasmus was surprisingly an unused substitute against Chiefs, with the
likes of Deon Hotto, Thabiso Monyane, Ben Motshwari and Makhehlene
Makhaula featuring off the bench. Mashego continued: “And those are the
players that should be given a chance. I’m not saying if he played Pirates
would have won but I’m just saying these games are different to any other
game in the league.”
Pirates remain in third place on the table, equal on points with Richards
Bay and Kaizer Chiefs, who are all five points behind second-placed
SuperSport United in the chase to qualify for continental football. They
will have a chance to redeem themselves in another Soweto derby against
Swallows on Friday.
THE LAST 5 SOWETO DERBY MATCHES
{2021} Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 Orlando Pirates
{2022} Orlando Pirates 1-2 Kaizer Chiefs
{2022} Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 Orlando Pirates
{2022} Orlando Pirates 0-1 Kaizer Chiefs
{2023} Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 Orlando pic.twitter.com/LIeun27mUG— 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒛𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒈𝒂 (@reallozakhga) February 26, 2023
