No joy for new coach Kanalelo as Pirates rout Gallants
· Citizen
Orlando Pirates continued their unbeaten start to the 2026/27 Betway Premiership campaign following a 2-0 win over Marumo Gallants at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Sunday.
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The result saw the Buccaneers close the gap on log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns to just one point, while Bahlabane Ba Ntwa remained at the bottom of the league table.
The game marked new coach Fillemon Ronnie Kanalelo’s first game in charge of Gallants, and he was expected to lead them to their first victory of the season. Still, it wasn’t to be for the former Mamelodi Sundowns and Namibia goalkeeper.
Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou made just one change from the team that beat Durban City 2-0 in their last league encounter, with Simphiwe Selepe coming in the middle of the park for Mthetheleli Mthiyane.
The Buccaneers threatened from the first whistle and put Gallants on the back foot during the first 10 minutes of the game. Kabelo Kgositsile on the right flank and Tshepang Moremi on the left caused all sorts of problems for the Gallants defence.
The visitors were awarded a free kick in a good scoring position in the 11th minute when Simphiwe Masilela was brought down just outside the Gallants penalty area. From that resultant free kick, Thapelo Mokobodi went agonisingly close with a curling effort.
Pirates almost took the lead through Masilela in the 26th minute, but his shot was saved by Emile Lako.
Two minutes later, Gallants were presented with a great chance to score following a mistake at the back by Kamogelo Sebelebele, but Kenyan striker Kelvin Etemesi took too long to take a shot, and the ball was taken from his feet.
Kabelo Kgositsile finally broke the deadlock for Pirates in the 32nd minute, volleying home a clever chip from Mokobodi.
A minute later, Msindisi Kunene was presented with a perfect opportunity to grab the equaliser for Gallants when he found himself in a one-on-one situation with Sipho Chaine, but his shot went wide of goal.
A mistake at the back from Gallants almost led to the second goal for Pirates in the 65th, but Mokobodi failed to trouble Lako with his tame shot.
Nine minutes later, captain Nkosinathi Sibisi made sure that Pirates did grab their second goal when he scored with his header from a corner kick. And with that, Pirates registered their sixth win in seven matches.