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— (@reallozakhga) February 26, 2023
