Sub Qalinge keeps Orlando Pirates' title hopes afloat
Thabo Qalinge came off the bench to score the goal that gave Orlando Pirates a 2-1 win at AmaZulu Sunday, and kept alive slim hopes of winning the ABSA Premiership.
When a fast, low cross eluded two other Buccaneers in the 80th minute, Qalinge hammered the ball between goalkeeper Siyabonga Mbatha and his near post for the winner.
Pirates had been rocked after only 11 minutes in Indian Ocean port city Durban when veteran Mabhuti Khenyeza put AmaZulu ahead off a swift counterattack.
Khenyeza, 35, and fellow striker Siyabonga Nomvethe, 40, have a combined age of 75, making them by far the oldest Premiership attack.
The Soweto club levelled on 33 minutes when Musa Nyatama punished slack marking to nod a free kick wide of Mbatha.
Victory lifted former African champions Pirates to 49 points, three less than leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have a game in hand.
Sundowns have four fixtures to play and Pirates three, making the Pretoria club hot favourites to win a record-extending eighth title.
There is a silver lining for Pirates, however, as they need win only one more match to be guaranteed second place, and qualification for the 2019 CAF Champions League.
That has been a goal of Serb coach Milutin "Micho" Sredojevic, who took the Buccaneers to the 2006 Champions League semi-finals during a brief previous spell in charge.
"Qualifying for the Champions League was one of our goals for this season," confirmed Sredojevic after a lively match before a capacity 14,500 crowd.
"This is a very difficult place to come and win and my boys deserve praise for the effort they put in and the pride they have in representing Pirates.
"We did not panic after conceding and our patient approach eventually paid off. As for the title race, we continue to concentrate only on our next match."
Goals from Bandile Shandu and Siphesihle Ndlovu gave Maritzburg United a 2-0 win at Baroka and kept them ahead of Kaizer Chiefs on goal difference in the chase to finish third.
Apart from collecting more prize money from a 30 million rand (about $2.5 mn/2 mn euros) pot, the club finishing third secures a 2019 CAF Confederation Cup place.
Chiefs edged bottom club Platinum Stars 1-0 in Soweto with Hendrik Ekstein scoring the only goal four minutes into the second half.
Ivorian Yannick Zakri snatched a last-minute equaliser for relegation-threatened Ajax Cape Town away to Chippa United, who had taken an early second-half lead through Mxolisi Macuphu.