Durban - Orlando Pirates will have a chance to redeem themselves following their 4-1 mauling against Sundowns on Friday when they clash against rejuvenated Marumo Gallants at the Orlando Stadium.
The thrashing against Sundowns was Pirates' third of the season.
It proved that Sea Robbers co-coach Mandla Ncikazi exaggerated when he recently claimed that “Pirates are on par with Sundowns”.
After maintaining a 0-0 score at half-time, Pirates wilted in the second period as Downs outsmarted them tactically and garnered four goals in that time.
Pirates midfielder Ben Motshwari believes that his side must implement the lessons learned from the embarrassment going forward.
“We have to forget about the Sundowns game. We can take the positives from the first half going into our next game against Gallants on Monday. We have to redeem ourselves. We should just forget about the Sundowns game and move on to the next match,” he said.
Motshwari also conceded that his side wilted in the second half against Sundowns with the opposition outsmarting them into conceding “silly goals”.
“We played well in the first half even though they were coming in from the sides. We conceded some silly goals in the second half, especially from set-pieces. Leaving a man on the far post during a set-piece was a stupid mistake to commit in the second half. We only have ourselves to blame, especially in the second half,” said Motswari.
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Though they started the season slowly, Gallants have been one of the most improved teams in recent weeks. The Limpopo-based club have lost just one out of their last eight games in all competitions which was their most recent 1-0 loss to AmaZulu on Friday.
Gallants’ improvement has coincided with the appointment of Dan Malesela as their coach in November and they have so far lost just once under the 56-year-old.
In Gallants, Pirates will come up against a very physical team who are capable of inflicting punishment on them if they are guilty of lapses in concentration defensively.
The Sea Robbers will need to have their scoring boots on as Gallants goalkeeper Washington Arubi is arguably one of the best in the league and never shows fear against the so-called bigger teams in the top-flight.
@EshlinV