Pirates impress in beating Al Ahly

eshlin.vedan@inl.co.za Maela 8, Mosela 29 0 (0) 2

PIRATES were rapid, direct and deadly and put one foot in the Confederation Cup final with an impressive win over Al Ahly Tripoli at the Martyrs of February Stadium in Benghazi, Libya, last night.

Pirates took to the attack to the home side from the start. They took the lead in the eighth minute through a header from Innocent Maema. Following a corner, Al Ahly goalkeeper Muhammad Nashnoush could only parry away a header from Kwame Peprah into the path of Maema who nodded into the net.

Peprah was once again in the thick of things when Pirates doubled their lead in the 28th minute. The Ghana international sent in a cross that Goodman Mosele pounced on and produced a crisp finish.

Pirates nearly added a third on the stroke of half-time as Deon Hotto struck an effort just wide.

Pirates clearly got their strategy right in the first half. Even though they had less than 40% possession, they contained Al Ahly well and the home side was restricted to taking shots from tough positions and when they did shoot, none of their shots troubled Richard Ofori in the Pirates goal.

Mohamed El Fakih struck a free-kick on the verge of half-time but his shot was nowhere near the goal. Hotto was through on goal in the 58th minute and was only to be denied with a great save from Nashnoush at point-blank range.

While Pirates were not as effective in terms of their attacking play during the second half, they continued to frustrate the home side with their smart defending.

The Sea Robbers actually should have won the game by an even bigger margin had they been more clinical in the final third during the second half. Shortly after coming on, substitute Siphesihle Ndlovu had a one-on-one opportunity to score but was denied by alert goalkeeping from Nashnoush.

In what would have been frustrating for fans and players alike, there were a number of delays in the game towards the end as the electricity went off twice and affected the lighting at the Stadium.

It is clearly Al Ahly who will have the hard work to do in the return leg at the Orlando Stadium next weekend. With away goals still counting in African football competitions, Al Ahly will have to beat Pirates by at least a two goal deficit to have a chance of making the final.