Phuthi Mohafe casts doubt on Orlando Pirates' title credentials

Polokwane City head coach Phuthi Mohafe has questioned Orlando Pirates' credentials for the 2025/26 Betway Premiership title.

This comes after Rise and Shine fell 2-1 to the Soweto giants on Wednesday, with Relebohile Mofokeng and Patrick Maswanganyi on target, while Bonginkosi Dlamini netted for the home side.

Having conceded the crucial goal in the 90th minute to stretch their losing streak against Pirates to six games across all competitions, Mohafe believes his side deserved a point from the match.

“This team is giving us hassles, it gives us problems. It's a difficult defeat to accept but you check on how the players played, they gave themselves, they gave good account of themselves, it was first loss at home [in the league], and it's difficult to accept,” he said.

"But we are playing with one of the big teams in Southern Africa, we are playing a team that is free-scoring, we are playing a team that is not conceding many goals. So, scoring against them for us was a plus because we see that there are certain things that they are not good at. And it's not a good a defeat because at least a true reflection of the match was a draw.

With his team having managed to give Pirates a run for their money, the Limpopo-born tactician has cast doubt on the chances of Abdeslam Ouaddou's men clinching the league title this season.

“If they can continue playing like this, I don't see them winning the championship if they will play the way they played today [Wednesday]. And not knowing that maybe our tactical aspect or our tactical acumen were spot on,” Mohafe added.

"Maybe we planned very well for them and that is why they struggled with us today, but with the performance that they gave today I don't see them becoming the champions.

The result has Pirates sitting at the summit of the Betway Premiership table, level on 44 points with Mamelodi Sundowns, while Polokwane are in seventh place with 28 points.

Hlayisani Magoro

Editorfr, en

Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.