Orlando Pirates crashed out of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round after suffering a 5-4 defeat on penalties against Saint Eloi-Lupopo at Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Bucaneers won the second leg 3-0, sending the match to a penalty shootout after suffering a 3-0 loss in the first leg away from home. However, they fell short in the shootout. The Bucs welcomed Eloi Lupopo at home under immense pressure to overturn a three-goal deficit after suffering a shock 3-0 defeat in Lubumbashi last weekend.
The Soweto giants made it to the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League after convincingly beating Lesotho champions Lioli FC 7-0 on aggregate over two legs in the first preliminary round.
Before facing Lupopo in the second-leg, Pirates played a midweek encounter against Polokwane City FC in the Betway Premiership, where they won 1-0. Pirates made two changes to the team that started against City, bringing in Deon Hotto and Sipho Mbule in place of Evidence Makgopa and Nkosikhona Ndaba.
In a surprise decision by Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, the Ghosts started the match without a natural striker, with Tshegofatso Mabasa and Yanela Mbuthuma on the bench, while Makgopa was omitted from the matchday squad.
The 2025 MTN8 champions began the match on a high tempo, holding most of the ball. However, they reached the half-hour mark without a shot on target. For Pirates to advance to the group stages of the Champions League, they needed to score more than three goals.
ORLANDO PIRATES BROKE THE DEADLOCK WITH A GOAL FROM MASINDI NEMTAJELA
Pirates opened the scoring in the 39th minute courtesy of a clean strike outside of the box by attacking midfielder Masindi Nemtajela to inject more confidence in his teammates.
At the stroke of half-time, both teams were reduced to 10-men after Tshepang Moremi and Chris Sumbu received red cards for fouls committed off the ball.
Pirates went into the half-time break leading 1-0 and 1-3 on aggregate. In the second half, Pirates brought on Kabelo Dlamini and Yanela Mbuthuma in place of Sipho Mbule and Nemtajela to put pressure on the DRC side.
The former Richards Bay FC striker, Mbuthuma, scored the second goal of the match for Pirates, setting up a dramatic finish as the home side pushed for an equalising goal.
In the 94th minute, Oswin Appollis scored the third goal to bring the tie to 3-3 and go into the penalties. The 1995 champions lost 5-4 on penalties to crash out of the competition.
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