Orlando Pirates and Raja Casablanca were forced to settle for a 1-1 in the Caf Confederation Cup quarter-final first leg at the Orlando Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Josef Zinnbauer made five changes to his side that drew against Stellenbosch FC as Bongani Sam, Ntsikelelo Nyauza, Ben Motshwari, Vincent Pule and Fortune Makaringe were all named in the starting line up.
The Buccaneers got off to a good start and showed their intent in the early exchanges of the game but failed to make the most of their chances in the final third.
Wayde Jooste nearly gave Pirates the lead in the seventh minute when his intended cross almost crept in at the near post, but Raja goalkeeper Anas Zniti was well alert to the danger.
Soufiane Rahimi had a chance to put his side ahead but Wayne Sandilands did well to collect his effort at the near post.
Pirates managed to take the lead in the 39th minute when Vincent Pule found the back of the net with a clinical finish from close range as the game went into the break 1-0 in favour of the Buccaneers.
Brahimi nearly produced a superb strike early in the second half when he spotted Sandilands off his line, but his shot was nowhere near the target.
Raja did manage to level matters on the stroke of half time through Ben Malango, who beat Nyauza before slotting his effort past Sandilands.
Pule should’ve handed his side the lead four minutes later but fired his volley towards goal but it does not possess the necessary power to trouble the keeper.
Zinnbauer then opted to bring on fresh legs in the 76th minute when Paseka Mako, Thembinkosi Lorch and Thabang Monare were introduced in place of Bongani Sam, Fortune Makaringe and Motshwari before bringing on Gabadinho Mhango and Kabelo Dlamini to replace Deon Hotto and Siphesihle Ndlovu in the 85th minute.
Pirates had a chance to put the game to bed deep into stoppage time when Mako got behind the defence, beating the keeper in the process, but knocked the ball out of his reach at the crucial moment before Raja made the clearance as the game ended locked at 1-1.
