Tough task awaits Bucs
Log-leaders Sundowns will come out firing
ORLANDO Pirates have kept just three clean sheets in 17 Absa Premiership matches this season, and tonight they face the league’s best attacking team, Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Brazilians’ attacking trio of Leonardo Castro, Khama Billiat and Keegan Dolly – dubbed the “CBD” after Barcelona’s “MSN” (Messi, Suarez and Neymar) – have made a big contribution to the team’s 35 league goals.
It is the most in the league, followed by Bidvest Wits, who have netted 32.
Dolly acknowledged the Buccaneers’ resurgence after they avoided defeat in their last three league games and broke in to the top eight for the first time this season with a 1-0 victory over University of Pretoria at the weekend in Pretoria.
But the midfielder has warned that the league pacesetters focus firmly on their game, rather than the opposition, and that is one of the reasons they have been flying high.
“We take each game as it comes and we give our all. For us, it is not about focusing on other teams. We have our own style and we know what we are good at. We know our strengths and that’s what we focus on as much as we know what they [Pirates] are capable of,” he said.
The 23-year-old also shared his views on the deadly combination with Castro and Billiat, but added that Sundowns were not dependent on individuals and that was what made them a dangerous outfit.
“We started off slowly, but since Castro got to understand the way we move things have been good for us.
“I’m happy that they [Castro and Billiat] are getting goals, but the whole team is doing well,” Dolly, who has five goals and three assists this season, said.
Castro, who looked a potential flop when he arrived from Colombia at the beginning of the season, has seven goals and two assists to his name. Billiat is even more of a threat with seven goals and six assists under his belt.
Castro and Billiat were on the scoresheet when Sundowns beat Pirates 2-0 in a league clash in December at Loftus Stadium.
Quite who is favoured by the timing of the game is a moot point. Sure, Pitso Mosimane’s Downs have not tasted defeat in 14 league games.
But the problem with unbeaten streaks is that they create two streams of focus for the teams chasing them: trying to win and defending the undefeated record.
That said, while Eric Tinkler’s men may feel they have turned the corner by going unbeaten in three games, the other issue for a team as inconsistent as they have been is that they can only wonder when their achilles heel will strike next, and they will hope tonight is not that time.
Pirates’ game could be affected by the absence of captain Thabo Matlaba, who is serving a onematch suspension for picking up four yellow cards.
The loss of “Festival” is a big blow for the Buccaneers considering he looked to have got over his dip in form and had started scoring again to go with a spirited leadership of the team on the field.
