CAPE TOWN – Lady Luck smiled on hosts Cape Town City who held productive Orlando Pirates to a 2-all draw in their DStv Premiership match at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Saturday afternoon.
The result means that Pirates will retain their unbeaten record in the Premiership after six matches and will remain in third place on the standings. City find themselves in fourth position.
The intense Winelands heat did little to deter the players from playing at pace for most of the first half which turned out to be an absorbing affair which yielded three well-taken goals.
Hosts City held a 2-1 halftime lead, very much against the run after their Dutch-born keeper Peter Leeuwenburgh singlehandedly denied Pirates at least five times.
Pirates might have scored in the second minute but striker Deon Hotto, who was set free down the middle, shot wide of the target, with City defender Thamsanqa Mkhize tugging away on his jersey.
City managed to transfer play to the opposite end of the field and forced a third-minute corner, but nothing came of their set-piece effort.
After seven minutes' play, Pirates had spurned two gilt-edged scoring chances but it was City who took the lead through Mduduzi Mdantsane who latched on to a feed from Craig Martin, Mdantsane produced a curling shot with mathematical precision who saw the ball just shave the inside of the upright for the opening goal of the match.
Pirates were equally ineffective at set-piece time and after 15 minutes they were unable to capitalise on two close-in free-kicks.
Hotto was again a threat in front of the City goal but this time Leeuwenburgh pushed his scoring attempt wide but Vincent Pule lurked unmarked and stabbed the ball home into the net (1-1).
The goal saw Pirates step up their intensity and City defence battled to contain the threat but Leeuwenburgh prevented further damage.
In the 32nd minute, City again took the lead against the run of play. This time Abbubakar Mobara, playing against his old team, unleashed a low speculative drive from well outside the Pirates goalmouth. The ball took a wicked curve and flew wide of goalkeeper Richard Ofori's despairing dive (2-1).
Towards the end of the half, City slowed the game down, seemingly content to sit on their 2-1 cushion. The ploy certainly took the sting out of the Pirates challenge.
When second-half play resumed both sides remained attack-minded and both sets of defences were under pressure and goalkeepers were kept on their toes.
Just past the hour mark, Pirates came good again thanks to the Hotto-Pule twin spearhead. Pirates staged a telling counter-attack after a City corner. As the move approached the opposition goalmouth Hotto produced a backheel which Pule picked up and scored the equaliser (2-2).
Ten minutes later the gods continued smiling on City after Pirates struck the woodwork for the second time in the second half.
In the dying minutes, Leeuwenburgh continued to intervene with great authority to keep Pirates at bay and ensure the stalemate.
In the other game on Saturday, Nduduzo Sibiya equalised on the half-hour mark as Golden Arrows and newly promoted Moroka Swallows played to a 1-all draw in Durban.
IOL Sport