Pirates Draw Against Pafos In The Pre-Season Friendly

Orlando Pirates’ second pre-season match in Spain, played against Pafos from Cyprus in Marbella on Sunday, ended in a draw.

The Buccaneers went into this game having lost their first pre-season friendly 2-0 to England’s Bolton Wanderers on Friday.

Match Highlights

Pafos, who clinched the Cypriot league title last season and will feature in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, opened the scoring with a superb goal from a swift defense-to-attack transition. After Kabelo Dlamini’s free-kick for Pirates was poorly executed, Pafos capitalized on the break. Joao Correia ran clear and beat Sipho Chaine with a low shot at the far post.

Pirates should have equalized shortly after when Relebohile Mofokeng set up new signing Yanela Mbuthuma on another break, but Mbuthuma skewed his shot wide, missing a golden opportunity.

However, Pirates did find the back of the net in the 24th minute. Oswin Appollis delivered a brilliant pass to set up Mofokeng, who used his small frame to get past Ken Sema before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Thanos Papadoudis for the equalizer.

In the second half, Boitumelo Radiopane, who replaced Mbuthuma, had two good chances: one shot on the turn inside the box went wide, and another from the left was scuffed.

Coaching Decisions and Game Flow

As the first half ended all square, Pirates coach Abdelsam Ouaddou made minimal changes to the squad before the second half began. This seemed to be a lesson learned from the Bolton Wanderers match, where numerous changes had disrupted Pirates’ tempo, causing them to lose grip and ultimately the game.

With the team appearing stable, Ouaddou eventually made a raft of changes after the hour mark. Despite the substitutions, the team’s cohesion didn’t seem to suffer, and Pirates remained comfortable on the ball. This largely impacted the game’s flow, which unsurprisingly ended in a goalless draw.

Pirates will now face Las Palmas in their next friendly match.