Baroka halt Pirates winning run as they hold them to a draw

Just as things appeared to be going well for Orlando Pirates, the Buccaneers were held to a 0-0 draw by Baroka FC at the Orlando Stadium on Thursday.

It was another dominant performance from the men in black and white this season, but they couldn’t make their promising performance count, especially in the first 45 minutes, as Oscarine Masuluke made two brilliant saves to deny the hosts.

The result was unfortunate for Pirates, who came into this game after recording two successive wins. But the side from the Northern part of the country would be glad to have walked away with a point away from home following some poor results.  Baroka occupy 14^th place on the log with nine points from 12 games.

Bucs, meanwhile, lost an opportunity to climb up the league standings as they registered their seventh draw of the campaign and they remain in position seven with 19 points, having played 13 games.

Masuluke ensured that the scores remained goalless early on in the game after saving a powerful shot from Fortune Makaringe.

In the 18^th minute, a glorious opportunity came through for Deon Hotto following some sloppy defending by Baroka, but the Namibian’s attempt went wide.

It was all the Buccaneers in attack, with Ben Motshwari hitting a powerful shot in the 26^th minute, but Masuluke was on guard as he punched the ball away.

The home side finished the first half stronger, with Bakgaga failing to make any real threat at Siyabonga Mpontshane’s goals.

But, the Limpopo based team seemed to have returned with some positivity in the second stanza. A set-piece in the 52^nd minute almost saw the visitors take the lead, but luckily, Mpontshane managed to tip the ball before it hit the crossbar and cleared out of danger.

The teams managed to come up with some half chances, but they still couldn’t break the deadlock. 

Pirates will now shift their focus to the Caf Confederation Cup, where they meet LPRC Oilers of Liberia in the second leg of the play-offs, while Baroka will only play their next game on 8 December against Swallows FC.