Orlando Pirates hero Mabasa earns plaudits after crucial brace

Tshegofatso Mabasa quietly propelled himself to a spot among the league’s leading goal-scorers in the previous season, and has finally gotten off the mark in the colours of his new club, Orlando Pirates.

The 22-year-old netted a brace in his first start for the Soweto giants, helping them to a 2-1 win at home to Chippa United, which saw them end a six-match winless streak across competitions.

This is after banging in nine goals for Bloemfontein Celtic, catching the eye of the Buccaneers’ scouts.

Due praise for Orlando Pirates hero

After his heroics in Soweto, coach Rhulani Mokwena was full of praise for the youngster.

“Apart from the goals he scored‚ the amount of work he did (was impressive)‚” said Mokwena.

“You asked him to do a lot of work on three defenders in terms of assisting us with high pressing and helping to press and defend in smaller areas.

“He was outstanding with that. His movement off the ball… there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“But over and above that‚ I think the things that media and supporters don’t see‚ is what a great human being the boy is.

“He’s extremely intelligent‚ understands tactics and understands the game but at the same time is so humble and coachable and listens to everything that you ask of him.”

Rhulani Mokwena

Patience pays off for Mabasa

After missing Pirates’ first two league games of the season, Mabasa only managed a combined 46 minutes of play as he came off the bench against both AmaZulu and Golden Arrows.

This was with the likes of Justin Shonga and Gabadinho Mhango preferred by Mokwena up front.

However, neither player featured against Chippa, with young striker Zakhele Lepasa brought on when Mabasa was hauled off in the second half.

Mokwena says Mabasa got just reward for being unselfish.

“What more do you say as coach when you’ve got hardworking‚ honest players?” he said.

“That’s the reward that he gets.

“You get the reward if you are a striker that is not selfish.

“You are striker that also tries to put in a shift and tries to create spaces‚ and defends for the team.

“He gives a different profile to the other strikers who are also important and he knows that.

“He comes into the team where he knows how important (Justin) Shonga is‚ and how important (Gabadinho) Mhango is.

“He knows how important (Zakhele) Lepasa is and his job is to compete for the role. Everybody else has to know that they work for their position in the club.”

Rhulani Mokwena

Orlando Pirates next match sees them travel to Durban, where they will face Bidvest Wits at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, 21 September.