The opening ten minutes of an interesting matchup between Royal Leopards and Orlando Pirates made it appear that a massive upset might follow, but Pirates fought back with six unanswered goals after conceding twice in the early stages to put themselves in first place in Group B at the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition’s surprise leading scorer Bandile Shandu tallied his fourth goal while Ghanaian striker Kwame Preprah and captain Happy Jele also scored as the Bucs took the lead just before halftime and then increased the gap in the second half.
Meanwhile, in Libya a tightly contested matchup between North African clubs ended with hosts Al-Ittihad drawing JS Saoura of Algeria 1-1. Libya national team forward Mohamed Zubya finished off a brilliant team buildup that started from their own penalty area to give Ittihad the lead in the 22nd minute, but Saoura dug in and equalized by the half-hour mark. The Algerian side then did well to foil the efforts of Ittihad and earned a valuable road point while the hosts will rue their loss of focus after opening the scoring.
Orlando Pirates top the group with six points from three games, but Al-Ittihad are only two points behind with a game to make up against Royal Leopards. Saoura are tied with Ittihad on four points while Leopards have zero points from two games. Highlights from both of Sunday’s matches are below.
Royal Leopards (SWZ) 2-6 Orlando Pirates (RSA)
Al-Ittihad (LBY) 1-1 JS Saoura (DZA)
