Staff Reporter.
Orlando Pirates advanced to the CAF Confederation Cup final despite suffering a 1-0 loss to Al Ahli Tripoli in the second leg of their semi-final on Sunday night.
The visitors were out of the starting blocks as early as five minutes when Mahmoud Okashah came close to breaking the deadlock with a cracking strike towards the far post that was bravely parried away by goalkeeper Richard Ofori.
Al Ahli thought they had a chance to go ahead in the 15th minute after they were awarded a penalty for a handball by Happy Jele in the box but the referee overturned his own decision after he reviewed the incident on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) monitor.
However, the Buccaneers had breathing space after the half-hour mark as Olisa Ndah spurned a good chance from a header before Ofori had to be alert on the stroke of halftime after repelling a pile-driver from Albasheer Saeid.
Pirates made a solid start in the second half and missed the breakthrough by inches as Kwame Peprah leaned goal-wards from a loose pass around the area and fired into the side-netting.
It was all the Buccaneers thereafter, as a surging run to the area brought Thembinkosi Lorch in with a strike but it was blocked away, before Vincent Pule made his long-awaited to return to action
Ahli gave Pirates plenty of scares at Orlando Stadium on Sunday night, but the Libyan club would have applied even more pressure had they taken one of their chances that preceded substitute Ali Arqoub’s successful strike in the 89th-minute.
It might not have been the most convincing second-leg performance, but Pirates’ objective of continuing their quest for continental glory was achieved through the crucial elements of guts and fight.
Pirates have less than a week to finalise their preparations and travel plans to Nigeria for Friday night’s final at Uyo’s Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
The SA club will meet one of Democratic Republic of the Congo’s TP Mazembe or RS Berkane in the final. Mazembe held just a 1-0 advantage from their Lubumbashi opening leg going into Sunday night’s late second game in Morocco.
Pirates, the 1995 Caf Champions Cup winners, lost in the finals in the 2013 Champions League and the 2015 Confederation Cup.