Orlando Pirates began life without former coach Jose Riveiro on a mild note after drawing 1-1 with TS Galaxy in the Premiership on Saturday.
With Pirates set to finish as No 2 on the log, this result dented the Buccaneers’ hopes of trimming the gap between them and champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Pirates are currently 14 points behind the Brazilians, who’ll officially be crowned champions this evening at their home, Loftus Versfeld.
The Sea Robbers are currently navigating through uncharted waters as this game marked the first start to life without Riveiro, who left the club during the week.
Pirates came into this game having had a few training sessions without Riveiro, but the absence of the Spaniard on the touchline was still raw and notable as well.
The team didn’t only lack discipline, but fluidity in the final third, resulting in goalkeeper Tape Ira easily dealing with the loose balls.
Pirates were off-tune here that the better they did in build-up earlier on was exploiting the pockets in the midfield, as Simphiwe Selepe made another impressive start.
The youngster, without the guidance of Makhehleni Makhaula or Thalente Mbatha, showed his maturity, winning one-on-one duels.
His performance was nearly complimented by Relehohile Mofokeng, who was a beneficiary of Mohau Nkota’s diagonal balls, but Pirates still lacked a bite in the final third.
Despite his team managing Pirates at the back and protecting Ira, coach Adnan Beganovic still cut a restless figure on the touchline for the Rockets.
Beganovic paced up and down the touchline like a father at a maternity ward waiting for the birth of his son – a feat that never came as the teams went to the break goalless.
His counterpart, Mandla Ncikazi, meanwhile, cut a relaxed figure, softly barking instructions or interacting with his assistant Rayaan Jacobs to exchange ideas.
Ncikazi and Jacobs seemed as though they didn’t want to bombard their troops with too many instructions as they gave them freedom to express themselves on the pitch.
Pirates tried to show that they had matured under Riveiro, with goalkeeper Sipho Chaine even directing how his troops must organise themselves for a set-piece on the opposite end.
But that didn’t yield any result as frustration, instead, boiled over on the touchline between the two benches, resulting in Beganovic getting a yellow card as well.
Pirates had a false start in the second half as Mofokeng failed to control in front of goal before a scrabble inside the box resulting in Ira getting a set-piece.
Pirates’ performance yet again dipped as Galaxy got behind the ball, not allowing the hosts to cut down the middle.
However, Galaxy’s highline was exploited by Mofokeng, who lobbed the ball behind the defence, finding Nkota who set-up Bandile Shandu for the easiest of tap-ins.
That goal woke up the sleeping Ghost as they celebrated the only constructive moment of the game as the two teams hardly came to the party.
Substitute Melusi Buthelezi thought he made a three-point save in stoppage time, but a scintillating Galaxy move put through Simphiwe Mahlangu who equalised for the visitors.
It was a goal that sent Galaxy into cloud nine, but stunned Pirates and the Ghost, who’ll need to find their first win after the departure of Riveiro against SuperSport United on Tuesday.
