Football
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 7y

Can Orlando Pirates secure a top-8 finish?

Orlando Pirates' limp surrender in their 2-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday is a further indication of the decline of the 2013 African Champions League and 2015 African Confederation Cup finalists.

The defeat makes it ever more likely that Pirates will record their lowest points total in a domestic season for 30 years when they managed just 32 in the 1987 campaign.

Even if they win their remaining three matches this season, they will only reach 40 points, which would be their lowest tally since the following year in 1988.

It makes for grim reading for a club considered to be one of the giants of the local game and a worthy competitor on the continent too -- having claimed the 1995 African Champions Cup.

Buccaneers coach Kjell Jonevret, their third of this dismal campaign, had to explain to the media once again why his side were so easily outclassed and could offer little resistance to Sundowns.

"We have to be honest, we don't have the skill right now to break down a defence like Sundowns," was his assessment, delivering a damning verdict of the attacking talent at the club.

"We can't be too sad now, we have to go home, it's a new game already in three days in Bloemfontein [against Celtic] and we have to bounce back."

After suggesting following the 1-0 loss to BidVest Wits last week that Pirates should not have been expected to win that game, a remark that did not go down well with the club's fans.

"I am so naive to think we can win every game," he said, before adding he believed they needed two more victories to secure a place in the top eight, giving them a chance of winning the lucrative MTN8 trophy early next season that carries a prize of R8-million.

After the trip to Celtic, Pirates are at home to Ajax Cape Town and also travel away to Lamontville Golden Arrows on the final day of the season.

Ironically before that, they also travel to Golden Arrows in the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup, a last desperate bid for some silverware this season.

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