Only 17 days after playing in Bafana Bafana's defeat to Nigeria, Thembinkosi Lorch was back on the field for Orlando Pirates and scoring a world-class goal. We look at the stats and the action to see how he performed.
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Position
With the Orlando Pirates supporters selecting just Ben Motshwari as a central midfielder, a tactical alteration was required from the technical team. This saw a midfield diamond in use, as Lorch played in a deeper role towards the left than usual. This did not diminish his impact at all.
The 2018/19 PSL Footballer of the Season started the game like he had never been away. He was immediately finding good pockets of space and linking up especially well with Justin Shonga. In his time of the pitch, Lorch had a massive 52 touches of the ball. For reference, Khama Billiat only had 21. Motshwari had the most touches for Pirates with 56, but he played 37 minutes more than Lorch.
Creating
The two key moments of the game both came from Lorch's excellent contributions. When Chiefs were looking to play out from the back, he showed his pressing abilities to dispossess Cardoso. Augustine Mulenga scored after Bruce Bvuma saved Lorch's initial shot.
Lorch had six balls won whilst on the pitch, whilst his creativity shone through. He had two shot assists, three crosses delivered from open play and completed 75% of his 44 passes.
Read: Lorch's Promise To Pirates Fans After Derby Win
Scoring
Ten minutes after creating the first goal, Lorch scored the second. He received a pass from Shonga, saw Bvuma slightly off his line and curled home a superb second goal. Both of his shots in the game led to goals. From a deeper role, he did not get into the box as often but picked his moments to win the game for his side.
Can he Improve?
Based on this performance, Lorch has looked after himself well during his two week holiday, afer winning the PSL Footballer and Absa Premiership Players' Player of the Season awards in May.
"Extra training…every time we train in the morning and then I'll go to Virgin Active at night at around 20h00. I put some extra work and I think it helped me. I just have to keep on doing that," he told the media about the key to his success.
At 26-years-old and having announced himself on the international stage against Egypt, Lorch could be set for an even bigger season this time around. He scored 15 goals in all competitions last season and with his dedication, he may even be able to better than return.
What did you think of Lorch's performance against Kaizer Chiefs? How many goals should he be aiming to score this season? Let us know by commenting below!
