Winless and yet to score, Chippa United must start to win matches and the club has targeted Orlando Pirates to break their duck this season, according to coach Morgan Mammila.
Chippa, who have started with two goalless draws in all their opening matches, host Pirates in the DStv Premiership match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Tuesday (19:30).
Unlike Chippa, Pirates, having lost to Stellenbosch in the opening game away, are up and running. They have since routed Royal AM 4-2 and crushed Sekhukhune United 5-0 on Saturday to reach the MTN8 semi-final.
Zakhele Lepasa was the star of the show, scoring five goals in two games, including a hat-trick as Pirates ran riot against Sekhukhune.
With Pirates scoring nine goals in two games, Chippa’s defence will be tested to extreme levels by Lepasa alongside the triumvirate of Patrick Maswanganyi, Relebogile Mofokeng and Monnapule Saleng.
Aware of the threat these players possess, Mammila said they will have to take care of the game from the start to finish to have a chance to register their first league win of the season.
“We will have to control the game when we play them,” said Mammila, who is back at the club.
“But we need to win that match. It is a home match that we need to win and also targeting a clean sheet.
“The earlier you collect points, the clearer you send the message of where you want to be. I think if I’m not mistaken, we are in position 11 so we need to move up to the top eight as early as possible.
“Because we will be sending a signal to where we want to be, because, surely, we don’t want to belong there, down there.
“We are not on minus [on goal difference], we didn’t score, so we must start scoring and not concede.”
Chippa, who just like Mamelodi Sundowns were the only side to have defeated Pirates at Orlando Stadium under Daine Klate last season, have not beaten Bucs in Gqeberha since May 2016 under Dan Malesela.
When that happened, it led to the successful season for the PE club as they finished sixth, the last and only time they nestled in the top eight.
