Baroka played to a 1-1 draw against Orlando Pirates in an Absa Premiership encounter at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday night, writes MARSHALL GOUTS.
Pirates got their 2017-18 PSL campaign off to a winning start, courtesy of a 1-0 win over Chippa United over the weekend.
Coach Milutin Sredojevic made one forced change, introducing Luvuyo Memela for Thamsanqa Sangweni, who had failed a late fitness test.
Baroka are without a win, having played to a 0-0 draw with Polokwane City on match day 1 of the league campaign.
The visitors dominated proceedings early on and made it difficult for Baroka to play their usual carpet style of football with their high-intensity tactics.
Pirates looked lively when going forward, especially on the left wing where Memela and Innocent Maela operated, with the latter providing a number of telling crosses in the opening exchanges.
Baroka were dealt an injury blow in the 15th minute when defender Matome Kgoetyane went down and had to be substituted by Albert Mothupa.
Pirates continued to throw numbers forward on attack and came close with a Gabuza header in 23rd minute. Two minutes later Gabuza was denied a penalty shout after he went down in the area, but replays suggested that he went down too easily.
Thabo Qalinge eventually broke the deadlock for Pirates in the 40th minute with a well-struck header from Mpho Makola’s enticing cross into the area.
Pirates consolidated their shape and off-the ball movement in the second half and looked to kill of the game with another goal, but some alert defending by City, coupled with some poor finishing ensured that the score remained at 1-0.
Sandilands was called on in the 56th minute as he saved a tame header from Punch Masanamela.
Micho signalled his intent for another goal as he brought on Thabo Rakhale for Memela in the 58th minute.
Gabuza should have sealed the clash in the 64th minute when he got on to the end of Qalinge’s through ball, but the forward placed his shot straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.
Baroka were rewarded for their efforts as Abdi Banda headed home from a corner to level matters in the 72nd minute.
Micho opted for his final roll of the dice, bringing on Thabiso, Kutumela and Ayanda Nkosi, taking the total number of attackers to six.
Pirates threw everything forward in search of the winner, but were denied by some resilient defending by the home side, who were content with a draw.
