Pirates Lose More Ground To Sundowns Being Held By 10-man Stellies

Orlando Pirates could not engineer the breakthrough they needed against a determined, 10-man Stellenbosch FC and had to settle for a 1-1 Betway Premiership draw at Athlone Stadium, losing ground on leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

Stellies played two-thirds of Tuesday night's game a player down after losing defender Brian Onyango to a red card in the 35th minute.

Pirates huffed and puffed but could not produce quite enough chances, also striking the woodwork soon after Onyango's dismissal, to blow through Steve Barker's resolute Stellies.

The first draw of the season for the Buccaneers 40 points form 18 games saw Sundowns 58 from 22, who beat AmaZulu 2-0 in Pretoria , extend their lead to 18 points. Pirates have four games in hand.

In a tight first half, Pirates' best chance came soon after the red card for Stellies.