Orlando Pirates ditch glam for grit in hard-fought win against Cape Town City

At the Orlando Stadium 

Orlando Pirates were forced to resort to grit rather than glam to claim a 2-0 home win against a game but limited Cape Town City at the Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night.

Pirates, who have shown better signs of fluency than most teams this season, relied on goals from Zakhele Lepasa in the ninth minute and Patrick Maswanganyi in the 75th minute to seal their second league win of the season.

The win was Pirates fourth at home this campaign, as they've become a formidable team at Orlando Stadium but one that still needs to sort out issues on the road.

That Orlando Pirates, who moved to fourth place with seven points with the win, were the better side in the first half was indisputable.

They had better purpose and structure going forward, and this was reflected in the errors they forced from Cape Town City's defence.

Lepasa's ninth-minute goal that brought the very reasonable midweek crowd to life was a result of this, with Pirates' high pressing forcing City to be rushed on the ball.

Pirates' superior physicality on the ball shone through for them, with Lepasa's excellent right-footed bullet giving Cape Town City goalkeeper Darren Keet no chance.

Lepasa's goal was not only his ninth of the season across all competitions but Pirates' 12th in all competitions at home this season.

While Pirates were the much better side from a fluency perspective, they couldn't quite find the gaps that came easily in the Royal AM and Sekhukhune games, where they ran riot.

They also applied the same defensive pressure to Cape Town City, whose one clear-cut chance came from a speculative long-range chance from the hard-working Tshegofatso Nyama that was saved by Pirates keeper Sipho Chaine.

Thabiso Kutumela also had a chance from