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Pirates blitzkrieg floors Stars

Johannesburg - Platinum Stars were made to rue poor finishing as Orlando Pirates stole a 4-3 win in their premiership match at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg on Wednesday.

Three goals in eight minutes from the Buccanners turned a losing 1-2 scoreline into an emphatic win for the Soweto team.

Going into injury time the home team were allowed to pull one back when Innocent Mkhabela had a free header in the box which he buried to make the score respectable.

With the last kick of the match, the home team had the chance to square the match but Man of the match, Moeneeb Josephs put in one of his countless saves on the night.

With a goal from either side in the first half in quick succession, the home side had the better chances throughout the match but were anything but clinical in converting their chances in front of goal.

With the scores locked at 1-1 at half-time, the home team went ahead in the 68th minute through a Mduduzi Nyanda goal.

It took the premiership title holders eight minutes to galvanise their efforts and to equalise with a well-taken Siyabonga Sangweni header, before Tokelo Rantie scored the third in the 79th minute.

Four minutes from time, Benni McCarthy scored his fourth league goal of the season, and with it Pirates' fourth of the game, with a well-directed header to seal the result for the visitors.

The home side were looking to end an eight-match winless streak in the PSL and were the dominant team from the outset, but Pirates showed why they were champions last season as they seemed to gel as they went 2-1 down in the 68th minute.

With the win Pirates move up to fourth on 30 points, now just five behind league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

Earlier, Josephs was called into action early and pulled off a good reaction save in the seventh minute from a fierce strike by attacking Stars midfielder Mduduzi Nyanda.

Stars were left wondering what more they would have to do to get the ball in the net in the 29th minute. At close range Nyanda fired his shot straight at Josephs. From the rebound Lindokuhle Mbatha produced a powerful shot that this time required a fully-stretched diving save from Josephs.

Two minutes later Stars did manage to put the ball in the back of the net, but the wrong one with an own goal to put Pirates ahead.

The ball was whipped in from a Pirates corner and Mkhabela's attempted headed clearance turned into the perfect shot past keeper Siyabonga Mpontshane to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

The lead did not last long, as the home team levelled the scores four minutes later. Stars midfielder Sibusiso Msomi ran onto a ball from outside the penalty area, and his low angled shot found the corner of the net.

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