Relebohile Mofokeng of Orlando Pirates celebrates goal during the Betway Premiership 2025/26 match between Orlando Pirates and Golden Arrows at the Orlando Amstel Arena, Soweto on the 07 April 2026 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
Ahead of tonight’s clash against Richards Bay FC, Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has challenged his team to continue to be ruthless in the final third.
The Buccaneers come into this game against the Natal Rich Boyz at the Richards Bay Stadium at 7.30pm, in a rich vein of form having scored 11 goals in their last two games. A 6-0 drubbing of TS Galaxy before the international break was followed by a 5-0 rout of Golden Arrows last Tuesday.
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Despite these emphatic victories, Pirates remained second on the Betway Premiership standings on 54 points, two behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who secured a 1-0 win over Durban City also on Tuesday night.
Goals are important
With the title race between Pirates and Sundowns so tight, Ouaddou believes that the goal difference could decide which team wins it in the end.
“It is important for ambitious teams who are playing for the first position [to score lots of goals],” said Ouaddou.
“It gives trust and confidence and the goal difference will be very important at the end of the season, So, I’ve told my players that every game we need to play with strong fighting spirit until the last second of the last game. Why? Because we don’t want any regrets at the end of the season.”
“We are keeping the dynamic. A lot of people thought it was a little bit of luck against TS Galaxy, but everyone can now see that when our boys start to find the net, they are efficient in the final third,” Ouaddou explained.
“It’s not only in that game, we’ve been seeing our team create a lot of chances since the start of the season. Now, when they arrive in the final third, they are scoring more often.”
Zothwane warns Pirates
Meanwhile, Richards Bay co-coach Papi Zothwane warned Pirates that his side will not make it easy for them to claim maximum points.
“It’s going to be a difficult game as you know that they’re chasing the league title. Every time we play top teams, they think it’s easy to beat us so they must not come here and think they are going to win the match. It’s going to be a tough game and we’ll be ready for the match.”
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Pirates claimed a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture at home in Orlando last month, but they face a Richards Bay side that is high on confidence after their 2-1 victory over Stellenbosch FC on Tuesday.
The result lifted the Natal Rich Boyz up to 11th on the Betway Premiership standings.
