Makgopa strikes as Pirates defeat Chiefs in Soweto derby

Evidence Makgopa scored after 20 minutes to give Orlando Pirates a 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday in the biggest drawcard of the South African Premiership season.

An 80 000 crowd at Soccer City stadium on the outskirts of Johannesburg saw the forward tap a Bandile Shandu cross into the net at the far post.

Shandu, an early substitute for the injured Thabiso Monyane, had received a superb pass from midfield by Miguel Timm to create the only goal of the Soweto derby.

The better side in the opening half, Pirates became more defensive after the break and had a narrow escape when a header by Venezuelan Edson Castillo struck the post and went wide.

It was the closest Chiefs came to equalising and they dropped to ninth in the table — two places below Pirates — after the defeat.

Pirates are nine points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns and Chiefs 10 adrift, having played two and four matches more than the frontrunners, respectively.

“This is my first derby win in a league match, so I am naturally delighted,” said Jose Riveiro, the Spanish coach who is in his second season as Pirates coach.

“Success came thanks to a collective effort from the players. We will celebrate this victory while realising that we can play better.”

Defeat spoilt the 65th birthday of Chiefs caretaker coach Cavin Johnson, who was suffering a second loss in three matches since replacing sacked Molefi Ntseki.

“We had chances to score in both halves and failed to take them. I am not despondent, though, as this team will only get better.”

Elsewhere, there were 0-0 draws between Polokwane City and Moroka Swallows and Chippa United and Stellenbosch.

On Friday, Cape Town City won five consecutive Premiership matches for the first time by overcoming visiting Royal AM 2-0 through goals from Jaedin Rhodes and Thabo Nodada.

After winning their first two league games, Cape Town lost four in a row before undergoing a dramatic change of fortunes.

Coached by 1996 Africa Cup of Nations-winning midfielder Eric Tinkler, City have risen from just above the relegation zone to third, one point behind second-placed SuperSport United.