ORLANDO Pirates and AmaZulu compromised their positions at the top of the log when they played to a 1-1 draw in the Betway Premiership encounter at the Kings Park Stadium on Wednesday night.
Pirates took the lead with a Tshepang Moremi strike early in the first half, before Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya equalised from the penalty spot at the stroke of half time.
Virtually unknown in South African football, Usuthu goalkeeper Faveur Kouassi raised eyebrows in a wrong way when he parried a relatively harmless shot into the path of oncoming Pirates attackers in the box.
That was all it took for the ball to find its way to Tshepang Moremi’s feet, and he slotted home to hand Pirates the lead, breaking the hearts of his former club. One thing is for sure: the 23-year-old Ivorian goalkeeper will face intense scrutiny going forward in his debut season in South Africa.
Both sides started the campaign with league wins — beating Milford FC 2-0 and Stellenbosch FC 1-0 respectively — before experiencing contrasting fortunes in the hunt for the season’s first silverware, the MTN8.
Pirates advanced to the semi-finals, putting themselves just two matches away from defending the title for the third time in a row after edging Durban City 2-1 in Orlando.
Notably, the Kings Park clash against Usuthu was Pirates’ third consecutive outing against KwaZulu-Natal opposition since the season kicked off. At least a few teams may find themselves facing similar situations this season, considering KZN boasts five clubs in the Premiership.
Pirates’ dominance over AmaZulu on a chilly Durban evening suggests those numbers will offer little to no advantage for the KZN sides, unless one argues that it is still early days.
In fact, were it not for a poor judgement call from the match officials, Usuthu would have been level far earlier after their 35th-minute goal was incorrectly flagged for offside. That decision proved costly, as it would have sent Usuthu into the break 2-1 up after Ngwenya converted a penalty with the last kick of the first half.
Poor judgement calls continued as Ngwenya survived a clear red card, a similar incident to that of Lionel Messi against Algeria during the recent World Cup.
