Avatar photo

By Zethu Sithole

Journalist


Pirates fight back to draw against Cape City 

The game wasn’t short of entertainment and there could have been many goals scored on the day, especially coming from Pirates.


Bucs were 1-0 down from the early stages of the game courtesy of Mduduzi Mdantsane.

But his goal was later canceled out by Vincent Pule, before City took the lead once again before half-time through Abbubaker Mobara, only for Pule to strike back again and level the scores in the second half.

The game wasn’t short of entertainment and there could have been many goals scored on the day, especially coming from Pirates.

With the draw, Pirates have now recorded 10 points from six games, while the Mother City based outfit are on nine points.

The game started with Bucs first on attack as Deon Hotto’s early chance went just wide from the poles having broken away from the City defense.

But it was Mdantsane who would put the home side on the lead following a beautiful curler from inside the box in the seventh minute.

It didn’t didn’t take long for Pirates to get an equaliser as Hotto’s shot was brought back into play by goalkeeper Peter Leewenburg, only to be met Pule who found the back of the net from close after.

Leewenburg was brought back into action in the 22nd minute after Fortune Makaringe ball found Zakhele Lepasa inside the box, but the City goalkeeper was able to make a good save.

The Buccaneers were creating a lot of opportunities, but didn’t use them to their advantage.

Cape City got back into the lead just after the half hour mark through former Buccaneer Mobara’s long range strike to make it 2-1 for the hosts as the game went into the break with three goals scored in the first half.

As expected, Pirates were eager to get back into the game and they almost did when substitute Terrence Dzukamanja launched a powerful shot in the 50th minute, but he was unfortunately denied by the crossbar.

City coach Riekerink inrtroduced Mpho Makola into the game. The midfielder almost made an impact from a set-piece, but Richard Ofori was able to make a save.

At the other end, some nice build-up from Pirates saw Pule grab his second goal of the match and an equaliser for Pirates in the 66th minute.

Tshegofatso Mabasa saw his shot being denied by the woodwork a couple of minutes after being introduced into the game with the game left with less than 20 minutes of regular time.

With Pirates having added more players upfront, Cape City did a lot of defending and were forced to make some mistakes.

Both sides pushed each other in their quest to get a late winner, but their efforts didn’t count for nothing as the game ended in a stalemate.

This was Pirates second draw in their last two games after being held to 1-1 draw by Baroka FC, while Cape City also recorded their second consecutive draw with the same scoreline against AmaZulu FC.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.