Orlando Pirates allowed their recent domination of the Premier League championship race to evaporate in a crushing 3-0 defeat against SuperSport United at Atteridgeville's Super Stadium.

What is more, the two-times defending champions played for more than half the game with 10 men after the sending off of Tsietsi Mohoa shortly before the interval, with the score already 1-0 in their favour as a result of the first of Daine Klate's precious brace of goals.

It was a result in front of a surprisingly half-empty, stunned stadium that enabled SuperSport to secure a clear points lead at the top of the log, while the flagging Buccaneers now drop out of the leading three positions.

A pre-match newspaper poster proclaimed "Pirates all at sea" ? and it could not have been more prophetic.

And instead of Pirates gaining the initiative in the second half with the advantage of playing with an extra player, it was the depleted SuperSport who scored two further goals through a Klate penalty and substitute Dario Monteiro's screaming 25-metre drive in the 89th minute.

Almost eerily, the decline of Pirates after a rousing start to the Premier League has become an annual affair ? and must be doubly disappointing for the disgruntled Buccaneers' supporters because it appeared that under the coaching guidance of former Dutch international Ruud Krol the boast that "it will be different this year" has been rudely obliterated.

Pirates, in fact, demonstrated little idea or necessary poise of how to penetrate an understandably massed SuperSport defence after the 38th minute Chenene piledriver had thudded against the post following a scorching 20-metre shot that appeared to be heading for an equaliser.

To SuperSport's credit, they never abandoned the potential of scoring goals from counter-attacks against the increasingly bewildered Buccaneers.

And SuperSport refused to become rattled by the red-carding of Mohoa for an off-the-ball incident.

Pirates might have some cause for complaint over the penalty decision against Lucky Lekgwathe that resulted in SuperSport taking a decisive 2-0 lead, with Siyabonga Nkosi going down from a despairing, but possibly legitimate tackle.

But ultimately there was no doubt about who deserved the three points ? and that was the defending champions.