Orlando Pirates came from a goal down against Ernst Middendorp's Maritzburg United to win 3-1 on Saturday evening in the first round of the Nedbank Cup.

It was a slow start from the Buccaneers and Maritzburg United took the lead when goalkeeper Richard Ofori committed an error outside the box. Thulani Hlatshwayo had made a way for Ofori to clear the ball, but the Ghanian chose to trap it, which landed on the feet of former Orlando Pirates man Thabiso Kutumela who place the ball at the center of the net comfortably.

Josef Zinnbauer's men managed to come back in the second as they scored two goals in two minutes. Substitute Kabelo Dlamini received the ball nicely from Deon Hotto and he placed it well to equalize for the Sea Robbers. A minute later, Deon Hotto gave Bucs the lead. Vincent Pule closed the game in the 78th minute.

Man of the match, Thabang Monare, speaking to the club's media was happy with the performance from his team.

''I feel like we had to be tested in terms of character and we just proved today that we have the right attitude, and we have big hearts and we have the right character'', the midfield maestro told SuperSport.

''It's not every day you see a team coming from a goal down away from home, so this shows a lot of character we have in our team''

The former Bidvest star has not found it too difficult to break into the starting lineup since joining the Bucs' ship.

''I'm feeling great. I'm in the right frame of mind. I want to sin games for the team. But it's always one game at a time. We've qualified [to the next round] and we put in a great performance today and we look forward to the next league match. That is where our focus is right now''

Orlando Pirates face Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday in a league encounter. The kickoff is at 17:00.

Content created and supplied by: Percivall (via Opera News )