Hail the King! Abdeslam Ouaddou delighted with Tshegofatso Mabasa's milestone as striker approaches ex-Mamelodi Sundowns star's Orlando Pirates all-time record - 'It shows fantastic team spirit for this player'

Orlando Pirates climbed to third on the Premier Soccer League table thanks to their 2-0 win over TS Galaxy on Wednesday night at the Orlando Stadium.

Evidence Makgopa opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half to give his team a deserved lead.  

It looked like the Bafana Bafana international had done enough, before his compatriot Tshegofatso Mabasa nodded in Deon Hotto's cross to double the advantage and help Bucs hit 15 points from seven outings.    

Mabasa's strike was his first this season in the Premier Soccer League after failing to find the back of the net in the initial four outings.

The strike was, however, significant as it took the forward's goal - in the Sea Robbers' jersey, to 50, making him the second highest top scorer for the club.

Benedict Vilakazi, who played for the Buccaneers before joining Mamelodi Sundowns later on, is the all-time club's top scorer, having scored 58 goals.

Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou insists Mabasa deserves his goal owing to his professional conduct and commitment to the team.   

“First of all, I’m happy for him, I’m happy that Mabasa scored, it shows the fantastic team spirit in this player," he told the media.

 "Like I said, at the beginning of the season, he was not playing, but you can see that he has 100% involvement in training.
“He’s very professional, all the time he’s advising his teammates, getting close to them, and he has a clean heart," Ouaddou continued.

 "If I can go a little bit deep, I can tell you that one time I wanted to bring him on the pitch, and he told me to bring in Masindi [Nemtajela].
“So he was pushing for his teammate to play instead of him. I’m not surprised about what you said [about Mabasa encouraging Makgopa to take the penalty], you know it’s very important for a striker to score.

"I’m very happy about the spirit of everyone," he concluded. 

If recent seasons are anything to consider, then it is safe to say that Mabasa has what it takes to get more than 10 goals in the remaining matches across all competitions.

He has to continue working harder to stay ahead of rivals Makgopa, Yanela Mbuthuma and Boitumelo Radiopane by delivering consistently.