AT 1pm yesterday, the media was scheduled for an interview with Luvuyo Memela - scorer of the winning goal for Orlando Pirates in their 2-1 Telkom Knockout opening round victory on Sunday afternoon against Golden Arrows. But the speedy winger couldn’t sidestep a severe stomach ailment and had to quickly be rushed to the clinic.
Brighton Mhlongo, however, confidently stepped in to help the build-up to the Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday at FNB Stadium in an Absa Premiership clash that could shape the Buccaneers’ campaign. The Bafana Bafana goalkeeper is used to closing gaps and saving his teammates blushes on the pitch. As he pointed out, he has only kept a single clean sheet - a big deal for goalies - in five matches from all competitions since winning back his place between the sticks after Felipe Ovono was bizarrely preferred ahead of him by coach Muhsin Ertugral. Still, he has yet to be on the losing side.
Amakhosi are a big threat though and are on cloud-nine after five wins in a row, including a penalty shoot-out triumph against Maritzburg United on Saturday night.
“I wouldn’t say we are under pressure,” Mhlongo said when asked about the contrasting form between the two bitter rivals. Chiefs sit top of the log, with Pirates in third place, four points adrift, but have a game in hand.
“We are starting to get the chemistry right and we have always known that it was going to take time because of the transition from coach Eric (Tinkler) to coach Muhsin (Ertugral) and the fact that there are several new players at the club. We are beginning to see things his way now, and that is important.”
The standings suggests the Buccaneers aren’t too far off the pace from the league leaders, but their performance has not been convincing, which has frustrated Ertugral and led to a few outbursts in the press.
Mhlongo argued that the win over Arrows, a team currently turning heads given that they are joint top of the standings with Chiefs, was a turning point - even if it had to take a wonder goal from Memela to get them to the quarter-finals of the cup.
“We needed to do well,” said the keeper as he looked back on Pirates’ three successive draws before ending the winless streak by beating Arrows. “People know that the standings on the day of the derby don’t matter ... it’s about who shows up on the day to perform. I think we turned things around when we beat Arrows.
“And for me, the results are more important. Yes, goalkeepers love clean sheets and hate conceding, but you have to look at the fact that I might have conceded in four of the five games, but we didn’t lose those matches. The combinations at the back are improving. We are surely grasping what the coach expects from us.”
Follow Mazola Molefe on Twitter@superjourno
The Star