Pirates draw against Ittihad to top group as fans trickle back to stadiums

Orlando Pirates finished winners of Group B in the 2021-22 Caf Confederation Cup after a goalless draw against Al Ittihad at Orlando Stadium on Sunday evening.

Bucs will find out who their quarterfinal opponents are when the draw is made in Cairo on Tuesday.

The Buccaneers had already booked their place in the quarterfinal after winning four and losing one of their five group stage matches. This game was to decide who finished as the group leaders, while the Libyan side will join Pirates in the last eight as Group B runners-up.

This is Pirates’ best group stage performance in the Confederation Cup, even better than their round robin stage in their run to the 2015 final, where they lost to Tunisian giants Etoile du Sahel.

The Ghost, as Pirates fans are known, found their voice from the first minute as the few thousand who braved the chilly weather and sporadic showers enjoyed the freedom allowed them by the government’s easing on attendance at stadiums to 50% of capacity.

It’s still a lacklustre attendance, given that an overwhelming majority of SA football fans have not attended live matches at stadiums for more than two years, but those who were there made their presence felt and provided a rowdy atmosphere.

Pirates made 15,000 stand tickets available.

The draw for the quarterfinals will be conducted at the Confederation of African Football headquarters in the Egyptian capital, where the four group winners will be seeded and the four group runners-up unseeded.

The Al Ittihad players and bench erupted in celebration after the final whistle. They join Pirates, Al Ahli Tripoli, Pyramids FC (both from Group A) and Al Masry and TP Mazembe from Group C in the quarters.

JS Saoura beat Group B whipping boys Royal Leopard 2-0 in Eswatini to move to 10 points but they miss out by a point as Al Ittihad finished on 11, two points behind Pirates.

Bucs would have loved to end with victory to avenge the 3-2 defeat they suffered against the Libyans in the corresponding fixture last month in the two teams’ first meeting.

Pirates have now won four matches in a row in all competitions and will be buoyed for their DStv Premiership clash away against Sekhukhune United on Wednesday, where they will  look to make ground in the race to finish as runners-up and qualify for next season’s Caf Champions League. Champions Mamelodi Sundowns look set to romp to a fifth successive league title.