Draw specialists Orlando Pirates held by Golden Arrows

Johannesburg — Orlando Pirates’ four-game winning streak in all competitions came to an end after they were held to a goalless draw by Golden Arrows in a DStv Premiership encounter at a cool Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Wednesday night.

After Stellenbosch FC failed to move up to second on the log following their 1-1 draw with Swallows at home, second-placed Pirates came to this match eager to close the gap between them and leaders Mamelodi Sundowns to 15 points.

But it wasn’t to be as their rejuvenated performance in the second half didn’t produce a win after a relatively quiet first half. However, they’ll be keen to take some positives from this game heading into the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday.

Despite their two wins in the league, one in the Nedbank Cup last 32 and one in the Confederation Cup group stage in their last four-matches, Pirates made headlines recently after the remarks of one of their co-coaches about the PSL and Afcon.

Mandla Ncikazi, who was celebrating his birthday on Wednesday, had questioned whether the local league could be better than Afcon as his bizarre excuse for continuing to overlook Gabadinho Mhango who had an impressive outing in the Afcon.

With the two teams boasting ball-players, most of the battle was expected to be in the midfield. And that was the case as Arrows managed to dominate position in the opening stages where Pule Mmodi was dictating play for his team.

This was no ordinary game for Mmodi as he was making his 50th appearance in the yellow and green colours of Arrows. But he was probably eager to impress more, given the fact that he was coming up against his former coach Ncikazi.

However, the pressure to do well didn’t only yield the best from Mmodi. At times he overcooked