AmaZulu hold wasteful Orlando Pirates to stalemate
· Citizen
A rather wasteful Orlando Pirates outfit were held to a 1-1 draw by AmaZulu in an entertaining Betway Premiership match at the Kings Park Stadium last night.
The result saw the Buccaneers move up to second position on the log table behind leaders Kaizer Chiefs, while Usuthu also moved up to third.
Tshepang Moremi gave Pirates an early lead in the seventh minute, but Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya equalised for AmaZulu on the stroke of half-time.
Patrick Maswanganyi’s clever chip was met by Yanela Mbuthuma just outside the penalty box and the striker took a first time shot towards goal, and goalkeeper Wilfred Kouassi could only parry the ball on the path of Moremi, who slotted it home with his right foot.
A mistake at the back by AmaZulu in the 22nd minute almost gifted the Pirates their second goal, but Mbuthuma’s shot was cleared off the line by Riaan Hanamub, much to the frustration of coach Abdeslam Ouaddou and the fans in the stands.
Mbuthuma was presented with a chance to redeem himself in the 28th minute when he was found by a perfectly weighted cross from Nkosikhona Ndaba, but he sent his volley wide of goal.
Two minutes later, Ghampani Lungu wasted a glorious chance to double the Pirates lead when he was sent through on goal by Maswanganyi, but the winger’s shot went wide of goal.
Mlondi Mbanjwa thought he had grabbed the equaliser for Usuthu in the 34th minute, but his goal was ruled offside. TV replays, however, showed that the striker was onside.
There was to be drama on the stroke of half time when AmaZulu were awarded a penalty by referee Luxolo Badi after Kamogelo Sebelebele fouled Mbanjwa inside the box. Ngwenya stepped up and put the ball down the middle for the Usuthu equaliser.
The teams went to the break with the score locked at 1-1.
Pirates continued to pile the pressure on AmaZulu in search of the second goal and they almost found it in the 48th minute, but Moremi’s deflected shot went narrowly wide of goal.
Ngwenya was lucky not to get a red card in the 51st minute when his rough tackle on Sihle Nduli’s ankle only earned him a yellow card. The tackle was so bad that Nduli failed to recover from it and was replaced by Thapelo Mokobodi.
Both teams tried to push for the late winner, but had to settle for a stalemate in the end.
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