Pirates draw against Tottenham
A sublimely placed free-kick from Rafael van der Vaart and a fantastic strike from Happy Jele in the first half saw Orlando Pirates and Tottenham Hotspur play to a 1-1 draw in their 2011 Vodacom Challenge match in Nelspruit on Wednesday night at the Mbombela stadium.
The Buccaneers played some nice passing football from the get go, but despite them controlling the possession and the flow of the play they never really looked to threaten Tottenham’s goal until the final five minutes of the opening Stanza.
Spurs, on the other hand, looked dangerous whenever they pressed forward and seemed to almost be able to create goal scoring chances at will.
Gareth Bale down the left flank and Luka Modric through the heart of the midfield caused problems from the first whistle for the Pirates defence.
Consequently, it was those two who combined to create the first chance on goal when Modric supplied a pin-point pass to find Bale down the left in the sixth minute. Bale then proceeded to beat two defenders on his way into the box before just firing over from eight-yards out.
The Buccaneers certainly had the lion’s share of possession, but played in front of the Spurs defence and were unable to find the right final pass. In stark contrast, when Tottenham had the ball they made it count and this was evident when they scored in the 17th minute.
Rafael van der Vaart was the man to find the back of the net with a spectacular 22-yard free-kick. The Dutchmen expertly curled the ball around the defensive wall and into the top right-hand corner of the net, 1-0.
Fifteen minutes later and Bale almost reproduced a replica of his side’s first goal from the exact same spot. This time, however, Pirates keeper Senzo Meyiwa got his hand to the free-kick and tipped it over the bar.
Finally, in the 40th minute the whole stadium erupted as the Buccaneers finally made their possession count when Happy Jele found the equaliser with a fantastic goal.
Jele picked up the ball on the right side of the box and drove towards the goal before unleashing a thunderbolt from just inside the right side of the 18-yard area. Brad Friedel did manage to get a hand to the ball, but it was not a strong enough palm to keep the ball out, 1-1.
Following the goal the Buccaneers certainly finished the stronger of the two sides as they applied pressure on the visitors’ defence and had a goal denied in the dying minutes of the half as Daine Klate was ruled off-sides. Spurs looked happy to hear the half time whistle.
The second 45 minutes was not as exciting as the first as a host of substitutes by both sides really saw the rhythm and flow of the game suffer as both sides tried to find their footing.
Subsequently, chances were few and far between. Pirates, though, did have the better of the opportunities in front of goal.
In the 73rd minute Mark Mayambela came within inches of giving the South African side the lead when he let fly with a powerful 30-yard shot that sailed narrowly wide of the post. Friedel, in the Spurs goal, could only watch in hope as the shot came in and was thankful to see it go wide.
Seven minutes later and only a last ditch tackle from Michael Dawson saw him nip the ball off the feet of Oupa Manyisa after a passing movement saw the Pirates man with just the keeper to beat.
After such a promising first half the game filtered out in the second half and as the game ended 1-1 a draw seemed the right result.
Orlando Pirates (1) 1 (Jele 40’)
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 1 (Van der Vaart 17’)
Teams
Pirates: Senzo Meyiwa, Happy Jele (Ntusi 64’), Lucky Lekgwathi (Johannes 64’), Rooi Mahamutsa (Sangweni 46’), Reuben Cloete, Andile Jali (Ngobeni 65’), Oupa Manyisa, Isaac Chansa (Mayambela 46’), Tlou Segolela (Bester 78’), Bongane Ndulula (Mabena 76’), Daine Klate (Doutie 46’)
Spurs: Brad Friedel, Kyle naughton (Walker 46’), Younes Kaboul, Bongani Khumalo, Danny Rose, David Bentley (Pavlyucenko 46’), Luka Modric (Jenas 59’), Wilson Palacios (Corluka 46’) (Dawson 46’), Gareth Bale (Kranjcar 59’), Rafael van der Vaart (Robbie Keane 46’), Jermain Defoe (Lenon 46’).