Cape Town City came from a goal down to beat Orlando Pirates 2-1 at the DHL Stadium in their DStv Premiership fixture at the DHL Stadium.
It was the visitors, who have a poor track record in Cape Town, with the early initiative and Monnapule Saleng forced a save from Darren Keet in just the second minute.
It was a fast action-packed start to the half, with Pirates particularly effective on the wings on the counter, and it was Deon Hotto who would break the duck, as he found himself with time and space to fire past Keet to make it 1-0 in the 20th minute.
The goal seemed to wake City up a bit, and three minutes later Juan Zapata saw his shot deflected wide, before Thabo Nodada fired just off target from the resulting corner
Keet saved Innocent Maela’s effort in the 26th minute, and again did well to stop from Saleng on the half-hour mark.
But Pirates were unable to add to the score despite that early domination, and City were level in the 32nd minute as Colombian Juan Zapata, in just his second start, found the back of the net, heading in Lyle Lakay’s cross.
At the break, the score remained 1-1.
The second half saw a similar start to the first, with Pirates showing the intent. Kermit Erasmus forced a save from Keet in the 57th minute, with a strong shot from outside the box. It would be Erasmus’ last action of the game, as was replaced by Evidence Makgopa moments later. Makgopa was making his official Pirates debut, as was Craig Martin, who came on against his former team with fifteen minutes to go.
But it was City who would grab the lead, as two of their substitutes combined, Marc Van Heerden setting up Darwin Gonzalez to make it 2-1 in the 75th minute.
It would prove to be the winner, with City’s two South American scorers handing them the three points on the day.
