Undefeated Pirates end Spain tour with Las Palmas draw

Orlando Pirates winning streak in their pre-season tour in Spain came to an end on Wednesday after they were held to a goalless draw by UD Las Palmas at the Banus Football Centre.

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Prior to the Las Palmas game, Pirates have been on a roll, with the Buccaneers beating Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel and Ecuador side Independiente del Valle in their last two friendly matches.

Bucs edged Maccabi 1-0 thanks to a goal by new acquisition Patrick Maswanganyi, before beating Independiente 3-1, with Maswanganyi once again on the score-sheet, as well as Souaibou Marou and Fortune Makaringe.

Against Palmas, the Soweto giants once again displayed some good football, with the young Relebohile Ratomo putting in a great shift.

Palmas, however, were first to try and test Bucs goalkeeper Sipho Chaine in search of an early goal, but the shot-stopper was able to make a save in the ninth minute.

Pirates started to get into the game as they launched a number of attacks, but nothing was working out. They came close to scoring in the 20th minute through Maswanganyi, but the hosts’ goalkeeper made a great save to keep the scores 0-0.

Just after the half-hour mark, the home team took control of the game, but attacker Jonathan Viera’s shot didn’t trouble Chaine. The score remained goalless at the break.

Bucs thought they had found the opening goal in the 59th minute, but striker Zakhele Lepasa was adjudged to be in an offside position.

In the 66th minute, Las Palmas came in strongly at the Buccaneers, but Deon Hotto was able to intercept the ball, before another Lepasa attempt this time around was tipped over the bar.

18-year-old Ratomo seemed to be enjoying himself on the pitch, with the teenager managing to take on the Palmas defence.

The youngster was hungry to get his name on the score-sheet with a curling shot, but his effort was saved in the 70th minute. Las Palmas kept on knocking the ball around and trying to open up the Pirates defence, but the South Africans remained firm at the back.

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In the end, the sides had to settle for a draw, but the Sea Robbers will be happy to have ended their tour without losing a single game.