Pirates one of biggest teams in Africa - TS Galaxy coach

13.10.26 FT South African Betway Premiership

Orlando Pirates

3

:

TS Galaxy

0

TS Galaxy interim coach Esau Mtsweni says Orlando Pirates are one of the biggest teams in Africa after suffering a 3-0 Betway Premiership defeat at the hands of the Buccaneers on Tuesday night.

The Rockets succumbed to goals from Boitumelo Radiopane, Tshepang Moremi, and Simphiwe Masilela at the Amstel Arena, registering their fourth loss of the 2026/27 campaign.

Galaxy, who are still searching for Bernard Parker's successor, are currently in 12th place on the Betway Premiership table, having accumulated six points in their opening eight fixtures of the season.

Mtsweni believes Pirates' display was a reflection of why they are in the same bracket as the continent's biggest teams, stating that his troops lost the game after allowing Abdeslam Ouaddou's men ample time on the ball.

“We obviously did not expect to get this result, we came here to compete and hopefully get a positive result. But I feel that we gave it away, especially in the first-half,” said the caretaker coach.

"I thought we were supposed to score one or two early goals, it could have turned into a different ball game but the second-half is when we lost the game completely. We gave the ball away easily and we did not put pressure on them.

"And obviously, if you play a team like Pirates, one of the big teams in Africa, you give them time on the ball they'll punish you and that's what happened today [Tuesday].

"They are the best, they've got quality players, coaches, hence I said they're one of the biggest teams in Africa and when you play them you must know your story. They are just the best, that's why they won the league - the best team ever.

With Galaxy having managed a solitary win to date, the former Mpumalanga Black Aces midfielder has sounded alarm bells, noting the grave importance of picking up maximum points pronto.

“It's a bit tricky but obviously we need to start winning games. I believe that I can't say it's early but it has to be better,” added Mtsweni, who's the club's Dstv Diski Challenge (DDC) head coach.

"We need to start winning games now, not later because if we have that mentality now we'll say the next game is still early and then it's the second round. We need to start winning games now, the early the better.

TS Galaxy will be eager to snap a three-game losing streak when they visit Polokwane City in their next Betway Premiership outing at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, 31 October.

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.

Related teams and leagues

Orlando Pirates

TS Galaxy

South African Betway Premiership