South Africa — Orlando Pirates lost away to Maritzburg United in the Premiership on Sunday as a result of their prolonged poor goal-scoring performance.
Pirates were anticipated to build on their 2-1 MTN8 quarterfinal victory against Royal AM last week, in which they scored twice. However, they failed to make an impact at a jam-packed Harry Gwala Stadium, and they paid for it with a late Amadou Soukouna penalty in the second half.
The outcome places Maritzburg in seventh place with nine points, while Pirates maintain third in the league standings with 11 points.
Both of the teams entered the game with high spirits after winning their previous games.
However, Pirates were predicted to prevail because they had only dropped one of their previous six games under new coach Jose Riveiro. They lived up to their lofty reputation, posing the initial threat through Fortune Makaringe, who indiscriminately missed the target with his shot.
But Maritzburg wasn’t going to be intimidated, so they attacked Pirates while utilizing Bongani Sam’s speed on the left wing.
Sam, who was competing against his parent club, and Bandile Shandu, who was competing against his previous employers, engaged in a bloody duel.
However, as the match picked up steam thanks to midfield battles, there was a 10-minute pause in the first half because of a floodlight malfunction.
When play resumed, Pirates were dealt a devastating blow when Vincent Pule was stretchered off due to an injury. Zakhele Lepasa was appointed in his place.
Due to Pule’s injury, Maritzburg made more incursions into the Pirates’ final third, which put Richard Ofori under pressure.
Sokouna was the dangerman for Maritzburg, and he put Ofori to the test with two pinpoint shots, but the Ghanaian was up to the challenge.
Miguel Timm struggled to defend his back four while Goodman Mosele, who was suspended, was missing in midfield.
With Bienvenu Eva Nga directing play and putting in crosses early in the second half, Pirates appeared to be the more threatening team.
His efforts to uncover runners, however, were unsuccessful, forcing the Pirates to use Paseka Mako’s speed and cunning to wear down Maritzburg’s defense.
Additionally deserving of praise are the home team’s defenders, who put themselves in danger whenever the Pirates attempted to attack from the middle.
After Lepasa’s lone goal-bound drive in the 65th minute, Pirates had a fantastic opportunity to go ahead. But he missed wide with his curling shot.
Pirates made an attempt to split Maritzburg’s defense, but their runners lacked precision, losing the ball and giving the home team time to regroup.
John Maduka, the coach, introduced Siboniso Conco. And that adjustment had an immediate effect because he was fouled in the box by Olisa Ndah, earning his team a penalty.
The subsequent penalty kick was taken by Soukouna, a thorn in the side of Pirates, who then scored the winning goal to punish the Soweto squad for their offensive mistakes.