Lebogang Manyama scored the only goal as Kaizer Chiefs claimed the spoils from Saturday’s Soweto Derby against Orlando Pirates at the FNB Stadium.

Saturday’s fixture was a game that both clubs’ German coaches wanted to win, but it was Ernst Middendorp who prevailed, and opened up a seven point gap ahead Mamelodi Sundowns at the top of the table. The champions are not playing this week due to continental action.

Middendorp surprised many with his match eleven, leaving out the evergreen Khama Billiat for Leonardo Castro, while deploying Kearyn Baccus in a three-man midfield.

The gambled paid off for AmaKhosi as Samir Nurkovic found Manyama in the edge of the box on the half-hour mark, with the Bafana Bafana attacking midfielder burying his shot past Wayne Sandilands in the Pirates goal.

After they scored their goal, Chiefs did their best in keeping their lead. Goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi was impenetrable, performing a number of sensational stops to deny the Pirates strikers. For his efforts, the Nigerian international was named man-of-the-match.

Erick Matoho also had a chance to finish off the Sea Robbers, but he skewed his header past Sandilands’ upright.

Chiefs were able to hold on until the end to claim all three points and hand Pirates coach Jozef Zinnbauer his first defeat in the league since his appointment towards the back end of 2019.

Amakhosi’s next assignment in the league sees them welcome basement club AmaZulu to the FNB Stadium in a game they will be confident of winning, while Zinnbauer takes his band of Sea Robbers to Durban to take on Golden Arrows.