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Pirates looking at daunting trip to Casablanca after stalemate at home

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Orlando Pirates have all to play for in the second leg of their CAF Confederations Cup tie against Raja Casablanca of Morocco on Saturday. This after the two sides settled for a share of the spoils in a one-all draw at the Orlando stadium in Soweto on Sunday afternoon.

Pirates opened the scoring before halftime, only for the visitors to capitalise on sloppy defending early in the second half and scored a vital away goal.

The Buccaneers looked like they were in a defensive mood from the onset in this match. The coach continued with his strategy of starting a match without a recognisable striker on the field.

Vincent Pule, a winger, was playing as a false number nine. He managed to open the scoring for the men in black just before half time.

Pirates survived a scare in the penalty area.

Casablanca players and officials wanted the referee to point to the penalty spot, but he stood his ground. The man in charge had his hands full as the players were keen to bully him at any given chance.

After that, Casablanca restored parity following a long ball that was launched forward, to the frustration of Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer.

Pirates players were counting on the referee to protect them from the more physical Casablanca players, but in vain. In the dying minutes of the match, the visitors had a glorious chance to grab the winner.

Pirates also had a chance but the keeper, Anas Zniti, was quick off his line. The visitors have an upper hand now in the tie as they take an away goal into the second leg in Casablanca.

The high-flying team won all their group stage matches and didn’t even concede a single goal in the process. Pirates, on the other hand, were found wanting at some point during their group stage encounters.

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