It’s a fantastic journey, says Pirates coach as Saleng buzzes again

When asked early in the season what distinguished the Monnapule Saleng he’d seen at the start of the 2024-2025 season from the forlorn-looking player who finished last season, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro said there was a major difference.

The Bucs coach said the Saleng who started the current campaign was on fire and reminded him of the player he found at Pirates when he joined the club in June 2022.

That statement was further qualified by Saleng himself this week when he scored Pirates’ two last-minute winners in the Premiership and Caf Champions League ties.

Those two goals add to the one Saleng scored in one of Bucs’ three matches that have put them in the final of the MTN8 — a contest that will see Pirates become the first team to win it three times in a row if they beat Stellenbosch FC in Durban on October 6.

Overall, Saleng has played in all eight of Bucs’ matches this season, scoring three goals and providing three assists in over 680 minutes he’s played.

Compared to the 27 matches Saleng played in all competitions in his second and full season with Bucs in 2023-2024, scoring five goals and making five assists, one can see, barring injuries or sudden loss of form, he could be destined for a far better season this time.

Saleng once again showed in the past seven days why he’s so important in Riveiro’s team, heading in the winner in Bucs’ opening Premiership match against Chippa United.

Saleng repeated the same script on Saturday at the same stadium, this time connecting with Relebohile Mofokeng’s pass to give Pirates a 1-0 win over Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana to confirm his team’s place in the group stages of the Champions League.

Pirates won the tie 3-0 on aggregate over a side that embarrassed Bucs when they eliminated them in the same preliminary round in 2023.

After Saturday’s game Riveiro evaded putting Saleng or any individual at the centre of Bucs’ current form, preferring to give the whole team credit for what they’ve done so far in the Champions League where they haven’t conceded a goal in four preliminary matches.

“Again, today we did a fantastic job to not give hope to the opponents,” said Bucs’ coach.

“We reduced to zero their opportunities to score, only allowing them to have shots from the distance and not really giving them opportunity to feel there’s a possibility to beat us here at home.”