With nine goals in two games it was difficult for the usually impassive Orlando Pirates coach, Jose Riveiro, not to display excitement about his dominant striking force.
Lethal Pirates scored five unanswered goals against Sekhukhune United in their MTN8 quarterfinal at Orlando Stadium on Saturday night.
The 5-0 victory followed Pirates defeat of Royal AM 4-2 in their Premier Soccer League clash at the same venue.
After Bucs began the season with a flat 1-0 away league defeat to Stellenbosch FC, they have bounced back, hitting top gear.
Centre forward Zakhele Lepasa has been at the forefront of Pirates’ glut of scoring, with five strikes in two outings, a hat-trick against Sekhukhune after two against Royal.
The dangerous Monnapule Saleng scored a goal in each match.
The two players have been marvellous to watch alongside influential young Relebohile Mofokeng, Patrick Maswanganyi and Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo in Bucs’ attack.
“So far you can see they are having fun. They are really enjoying playing together,” Riveiro said.
This time last season Riveiro had a tough time dealing with questions about Pirates’ bluntness upfront, which resulted in the club hiring a strikers coach, Scott Chickelday, for a period last campaign.
Bucs’ missed chances were a big contributing factor to their inconsistency in the opening half of the season and while they found a better rhythm from January to finish second, the gap was still a huge 16 points from champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
This campaign, Pirates are showing their hunger to get out of the blocks a lot faster.
“I think one of the small differences from the beginning of last season — because I think at the end of the season, we were pretty much the same [as now] — was the number of players that finish the actions in the box or close to the box,” Riveiro said.
“That gives us a lot more possibilities to catch rebounds, second actions to press a bit higher and that’s why.
“Obviously, after nine goals from two games I can only be happy, but understanding that it’s not always going to be like that.
“We were very effective three days ago, today we were very clinical in the first chances that we got in the second half; maybe more than in the previous game against Royal AM.”
Riveiro was also pleased Pirates kept a clean sheet for the first time this season.
The coach highlighted the importance of being solid at the back as he believed that was how they had won the MTN8 last season.
“But I understand it’s not always possible to score five goals in one game.
“Sometimes, you score one and you have to keep a clean sheet like we did today and it is something that also makes me very happy.
“When we managed to win the MTN8 one of the keys, though not the main one, was our consistency in defence.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.