Wits crush Pirates

Nelspruit - Bidvest Wits produced arguably their best performance of the season so far as they crushed Orlando Pirates 3-1 on Saturday evening.

The Clever Boys, using the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit as their home venue for this high-profile Absa Premiership match, scored their goals through Sibusiso Vilakazi and Ryan Chapman, who continued his impressive form this term with a brace in the second half.

Pirates pulled one back late on through defender Siyabonga Sangweni, but 3-1 really flattered them, as they were totally outplayed by their hosts and actually lucky not to lose by a greater margin.

One area where they did suffer some bad luck was on the injury front. Their already thin defensive resources have been stretched even more after the reliable Happy Jele picked up what looked like a very serious knee injury in the second half.

After a tame opening to the match, in which neither side was able to find their rhythm, Wits broke the deadlock on 20 minutes when midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi arrived late the far post to head home a peach of a cross from youngster Asive Langwe.

The goal sparked the Clever Boys into life and they proceeded to play some scintillating football, giving Pirates’ a torrid time with their pace and movement. The hosts were particularly good in midfield, with the likes of Vilakazi, Sandile Sibande and Lehlogonolo Maselesa easily dominating the Bucs’ engine room.

Pirates thought they had drawn level on 36 minutes when Rudolf Bester fired home a low shot, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside. Thulasizwe Mbuyane almost scored late in the half but Energy Murambadoro pulled off an excellent save to ensure his side went into the break 1-0 up.

And it was 2-0 soon after the restart, as Ryan Chapman continued his excellent recent form with a brilliantly executed goal. The striker controlled a difficult cross before turning and cracking home an unstoppable volley that gave Moeneeb Josephs no chance whatsoever.

On 65 minutes the Clever Boys added salt to Bucs’ wounds, scoring another fast, flowing goal as Chapman completed his brace by sweeping home Sifiso Mynei’s cross from the right flank. Such was Wits’ dominance that 3-0, even against the reigning league champions, was the very least they deserved.

The Soweto side did at least put a little respectability to the score line – if not their performance – with a late consolation goal from defender Siyabonga Sangweni, who turned home Tukelo Rantie’s low cross from close range.