The game started a little bit late because Sundowns were held up in traffic.
Orlando Pirates came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Mamelodi Sundowns in the first leg of the MTN8 semifinal at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
Teboho Mokoena opened the scoring for the Brazilians in the first half and Kamogelo Sebelebele grabbed the equaliser for the Buccaneers late in the second half to make sure that the teams are all square going into the second leg in Pretoria next weekend.
The game started a little bit late because Sundowns were held up in traffic, but the flow of the match was not affected that much as the teams went toe-to-toe looking for goals.
Both teams had the ball in the back of the net in the first 20 minutes of the match, but the goals were disallowed for offsides. TV replays showed that the Pirates goal was legitimate as Sebelebele was onside.
Sundowns had to make an early change in the 14th minute when Themba Zwane failed to recover from his injury and he was replaced by Jayden Adams.
Sebelebele had another chance to redeem himself in the 26th minute when he was set up by Deon Hotto, but he shot wide of goal.
Sundowns dominated possession in the first half and it didn’t come as a surprise when they opened the scoring through Teboho Mokoena’s header from a Marcelo Allende corner kick.
Things could have gotten worse for Pirates two minutes later had it not been for Sipho Chaine’s heroics who denied Tashreeq Matthews from close range.
The score remained 1-0in favour of Sundowns at the break.
Pirates came out with guns blazing in the second half as they looked for the equaliser, but it was the visitors who almost doubled their lead, but Chaine did well to deny him in a one-on-one situation.
Evidence Makgopa had a chance to grab the equaliser for Pirates in the 78th minute when he pounced on an error at the back by Sundowns, but he rushed his shot and ended up shooting straight at Ronwen Williams.
Sebelebele was not to be denied a goal in the match as he grabbed the equaliser for Pirates in the 87th minute. He was found by a long ball from Mbekezeli Mbokazi and he beat Williams with a low shot to make sure that still had a chance to go through to the second leg in Pretoria.