Zulu strike silences Bucs

Johannesburg - Chippa United registered back-to-back wins in the Absa Premiership when they edged out Orlando Pirates 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.
 
David Zulu scored the only goal of the match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium inside the opening ten minutes and it proved to be enough as his side defended well throughout the match to earn a deserved win.
 
Both sides had opportunities inside the opening five minutes but Ayanda Gcaba saw his header crashing against the crossbar in the second minute while Thamsanqa Sangweni curled a freekick wide at the other end two minutes later.
 
The hosts took the lead from a swift counter-attack as David Zulu collected the ball on the right and dribbled past the Pirates defence before placing his shot past Senzo Meyiwa and into the far bottom corner in the seventh minute.
 
The visitors had opportunities to level mattes midway through the first half but Kermit Erasmus sent his effort over the crossbar in the 26th minute, while Thabo Matlaba was denied by a decent save from Mbongeni Mzimela two minutes later.
 
Pirates had another opportunity to restore parity before the break when they were awarded a free-kick in the 38th minute, but Makola fired wide of the target.
 
The second half saw Chippa sitting deep and using their pace to catch Pirates on the break and it almost worked a few times, but David Zulu was flagged for offside on a few occasions.
 
Pirates came close to finding the equalizer in the 75th minute through substitute Lehlohonolo Majoro, who drilled his effort wide of goal on the turn from inside the box.
 
Mhlengi Cele, who came on as a substitute for Chippa, also tested Meyiwa from outside the box in the 82nd minute but the Pirates goalkeeper was equal to the task.
 
Despite their late efforts, the Buccaneers saw their three-match winning streak in the league coming to an end as Chippa held on for the 1-0 win.