Pirates fall flat with goalless draw at City

Orlando Pirates missed a chance of heading into Saturday’s Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs flying high after drawing goalless against Cape Town City at Orlando Stadium, where they squandered an avalanche of chances yesterday.

Pirates made two changes to the XI with Ntsikelelo Nyauza and Fortune Makaringe replacing Happy Jele and Thembinkosi Lorch respectively from the line-up of their emphatic 6-2 win over Swazi outfit Royal Leopards in the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday.

While Lorch was said to be nursing an unspecified injury, it appeared as if skipper Jele was rested for the Soweto derby against  Chiefs. Jele would only be introduced for Nyauza midway through the second period. The latter was cramping, hence the change.

City, who’ve never played a competitive match since beating Golden Arrows 1-0 almost two weeks ago, gave debut to their 20-year-old Cameroonian central-midfielder Brice Ambina.

Pirates had a blistering start, creating a few chances inside the first 10 minutes of the game. Hard-working duo Bandile Shandu and Deon Hotto saw their glorious chances saved by City keeper Hugo Marques as Pirates dominated the early stages of the match.

After making a few great saves soon after the first whistle, Marques nearly gifted Pirates a goal when he passed the ball to Pirates’ Kabelo Dlamini. However, Thabang Monare, who was teed by Dlamini, squandered that chance by ballooning the ball over the bar.

City were second best in the first half but the combination of left-back Terrence Mashego and Darwin Gonzalez on the left flash gave them a few good moments in attack. Their best chance came when Thabo Nodada unleashed a ferocious shot, forcing Pirates keeper Siyabonga Mpontshane to pull off an acrobatic stop.

The hosts didn’t take the foot off the pedal even in the second half but again they lacked that cutting edge upfront. Hotto, Kwame Peprah and substitute Zakhele Lepasa missed some good chances.

Elsewhere, Marumo Gallants piled more pressure on bottom-placed Baroka after beating them 3-0 earlier on in the Limpopo derby. Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo netted a brace while Joseph Malongoane was also on target.