Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has hailed the impact of striker Zakhele Lepasa after he scored his first goal for the club since November 2020.
The 25-year-old has struggled with injuries since returning to the club from his loan deal, ironically which was spent with TS Galaxy and famously remembered for his role in winning the Nedbank Cup with the then Mostepe Foundation Championship outfit.
Lepasa was earmarked as a future star for the Buccaneers but with fierce competition for places in the starting eleven and injuries over the past 12 months, he’s been limited to just 34 games across all competitions for the club since being promoted to the first-team.
After a couple of cameo appearances from the bench, the striker has seemingly won the faith of the Spanish tactician, with three consecutive starts in the league, while he played a pivotal role forcing Given Msimango’s early own-goal and then scoring just before the break with a chipped effort.
“I think we have very good players in every department, today was his time and they all up front benefit from the structure around them,” Riveiro said at Orlando Stadium when asked by iDiski Times about the forward.
“When everything is in position, it’s just a question of a bit of luck, confidence – if you ask me about Zakhele it’s a guy who has confidence, self-confidence, he has that type of personality which is good for an attacker.
“But again, sometimes you don’t score and you kick the ball out – today just played in our favour. Hopefully it’s just the beginning of a good time for us in front of goal because we going to needed it in the next games, I’m so happy with the collective performances tonight.”
Pirates next fixture will be after the international break when they face Mamelodi Sundowns in the first leg of their MTN8 semi-final.
