Orlando Pirates were eliminated from the CAF Champions League on penalties despite staging an impressive three-goal comeback against Linafoot side Saint Eloi-Lupopo – who now advance to the group stages.
Last season’s semi-finalists were coming up against one of the rookies of the tournament severely on the backfoot after a 3-0 loss in DR Congo last week.
And it proved to be a dramatic affair from start to finish, from off the ball incidents, two red cards and several scuffles as tempers flared at eSgodoni between the two sides, with Pirates having it all to do against a ultra-defensive Lupopo set-up.
Abdeslam Ouaddou started with Sipho Mbule as a false nine, but it appeared a very aggressive 4-2-4 for most of the opening half, with little joy to say before Masindi Nemtajela found the opener after 39 minutes.
But the goal proved a major spark in the game, as a scuffle erupted, with Nemtajela appeared to have been head-butted, before Tshepang Moremi retaliated with a push – only for the wrong Lupopo player to be red carded, alongside Moremi before the break.
Mbule and Nemtajela were then sacrificed at the break for Kabelo Dlamini and Yanela Mbuthuma as Pirates probed for the two goals needed to force the game to penalties.
One came in the 68th minute Mbuthuma headed in a corner to send the Ghost into raptures and make it an electric atmosphere in the last 20 minutes. Oswin Appollis dramatically equalised with the last shot of the game to send the match to penalties.
However, Lupopo held their nerves while Deon Hotto and Mbuthuma missed their spot-kicks, which saw the Buccaneers crashing out.
It marks a major blow to the season for the Buccaneers – who will now turn their attention to the league and Carling Knockout Cup until the mid-season break for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
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