Josef Zinnbauer rules Orlando Pirates out of PSL title race… for now

Josef Zinnbauer doesn’t believe Orlando Pirates stand a chance to win the DStv Premiership at this point despite their 1-0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday.

Fortune Makaringe scored the only goal of the game with a 62th-minute scorcher from outside the box to hand Pirates the maximum points.

READ | ORLANDO PIRATES V BLOEMFONTEIN CELTIC MATCH REPORT | BUCCANEERS WIN

The Buccaneers moved up to third on the PSL log with the win, four points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns who have three games in hand.

And Zinnbauer said Pirates don’t have enough points to even talk about the possibility of winning the league title – perhaps because he expects Sundowns to win their catch-up matches and stretch the lead further.  

“We don’t have enough points,” Zinnbauer told SuperSportTV.

“We can’t talk about the title. It’s not possible at the moment,” he said.  

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The 50-year-old mentor said it’s one game at a time for Pirates, adding that they will think about the title closer to the end of the season.

“We look from game to game. We have also the Cup in the bag. We have to see what happens in the future,” added Zinnbauer.  

“When we come closer, we can talk about the title but at the moment cannot talk about points for titles.”

The Buccaneers last won the league title in 2012 and they twice came close to lifting the coveted trophy during Micho Sredojevic’s tenure in 2017 and 2018.

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Zinnbauer was brought in to try and steer the ship in the right direction and expectations are higher after the club’s MTN8 triumph in December 2020.

Pirates visit Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Stadium on Saturday. Kick-off is scheduled for 5PM SA time.