Johannesburg – Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has pledged that his side will battle Mamelodi Sundowns all the way to the final whistle of the Betway Premiership season after a commanding 3-0 victory over AmaZulu on Saturday moved the Buccaneers two points clear at the top of the table.
Goals from Yanela Mbuthuma, Oswin Appollis and Relebohile Mofokeng sunk a toothless AmaZulu at the Orlando Amstel Arena, with Mbuthuma heading Pirates into an early lead before Appollis produced a stunning strike on the stroke of half time to make it 2-0. Mofokeng then curled in a superb long-range effort in the second half to take his Premiership tally into double figures for the season. He also struck the bar with a penalty, and Pirates could easily have won by a wider margin.
Ouaddou was pleased but made clear the job is far from done. 
“I told them before this game that we have six finals, there are 18 points on the table so we will fight until the end,” he said.
He said he made tactical changes at half time despite the comfortable scoreline.
“We managed to score early and to come in at half time 2-0 up,” he said. “I made some adjustments because I thought even though we had scored two goals we didn’t have full control in the midfield. We also bought on impact players in the second half to give us more control.”
He said the timing of the win, coming just before Sunday’s Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium, could not have been better.
“I am very happy for the boys, but it could have been 7-0 so we have to keep going. I think it was a good afternoon for us just before the derby. It gives a lot of confidence to the boys,” he said.
“We are going to keep pushing. I like the team spirit, I see on the pitch we are fighting. AmaZulu are one of the best teams in South Africa and we managed to have control today,” Ouaddou added.
Pirates have five league games remaining, beginning with the Soweto derby on Sunday. Sundowns, however, hold two games in hand on the Buccaneers and the eight-time reigning champions remain in formidable form, meaning the title race is far from settled despite Pirates sitting at the summit.
