Nervy Bucs into Confed Cup final

Orlando Pirates were made to sweat and could not give their supporters a performance they would have wanted in their Caf Confederation Cup semifinal loss to Al-Ahli Tripoli at Orlando Stadium last night.

But what is most important is that the Buccaneers will play in the final in Nigeria on Friday.

This is after they won the home-and-away tie 2-1 on aggregate, thanks to their 2-0 win away from home last weekend.

If Pirates had expected a walk in the park, which would be understandable considering how easily they wiggled their way past Tripoli in Libya, they were in for a shocker on home turf.

Al-Ahli came into South Africa thinking that if Pirates could beat them at home, they could also do the same at Orlando. And so it proved.

On Sunday in the Orlando Stadium, Tripoli were awarded a penalty in the 17th minute after Happy Jele handled the ball inside his own box, but after looking at the incident on VAR, the referee changed his decision.

The Libyans were an improved side compared to the first leg and Richard Ofori, the Bucs keeper – who had been more of a passenger in the first game – was called to work a few times in the first half.

He responded with some excellent saves to keep Pirates in the game because had Ahli got a goal first it would have spurred them on to go for more. Pirates also had their moments where they looked good in attack but they could not find the key to unlock the Ahli defence in the first half.

The half’s best chance came right at the death with Ofori attempting a save but the ball slipped off and fell in front of Mijayid Judour who shot over the top.

The second half was more of the same, with Tripoli still the more adventurous of the two and looking for the goals. Pirates sat back a little and looked to catch their visitors on a counter attack.

Both sides had chances but none could make any use of them until Tripoli’s late substitute Mohammed Arqoub beat Ofori with a long range scorcher to give the visitors a goal and the win.