Orlando Pirates go top despite home draw

JOHANNESBURG: Orlando Pirates went top of the South African Premiership Saturday despite being held 1-1 at home by bottom- half AmaZulu in Soweto.

Pirates defender Ntsikelelo Nyauza scored for both sides at Orlando Stadium, chesting a cross into his own net on 23 minutes before making up for his mistake 12 minutes later when he thumped in the rebound from a shot that had come back off the post.

Pirates dominated the second half and would have collected maximum points but for their long-time failing of being unable to convert possession into goals.

“I do not know whether to laugh or cry,” admitted Serb coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic, who joined the Buccaneers in August after quitting as Uganda coach over unpaid salaries.

“We missed a number of good scoring chances, but I cannot fault the effort of my boys. They gave everything without managing to secure maximum points.”

Sredojevic has also coached national teams and clubs in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda and considers the standard of finishing in South Africa the worst he has seen.

“It is a mental problem rather than a football one,” he said after his team drew for the eighth time in 14 matches.

The draw lifted them to 20 points, one more than record seven-time Premiership winners Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs, Baroka and Chippa United.

So far, the title race is the tightest since the Premiership was formed in 1996, with 12thplace AmaZulu only five points behind Pirates. — AFP