Orlando Pirates' forgotten man scores beauty as Bucs sink Spanish side

Orlando Pirates forward Boitumelo Radiopane came off the bench to score the only goal as the PSL champions beat Spanish side Las Palmas 1-0 in Marbella, Spain on Wednesday.

Pirates seem to have heeded the advice of coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, who has been critical of their porous defence, having conceded six goals and scored four from their previous three pre-season matches.

That is because the Buccaneers held firm and rarely gave Las Palmas a sniff at their goal and should have won by a bigger margin had they taken their chances or made the right decisions in key moments.

Daniel Msendani of Orlando Pirates shields the ball against Las Palmas. Image: Orlando Pirates

It was not until the 84^th minute that substitute Radiopane made a good run forward to slot home first-time after being played in by Ghampani Lungu.

Missed opportunities for Pirates

Pirates had a great opportunity to open the scores after 35 minutes when Cemran Dansin danced his way into the box and took a shot that was blocked by a defender while Daniel Msendani should have broken the deadlock on the stroke of halftime.

The Zimbabwean spotted the Las Palmas goalkeeper off his line and curled in a beautiful attempt but was unlucky as it hit the bar.

Andre de Jong of Orlando Pirates in action against Las Palmas. Photo: Orlando Pirates

Radiopane had his first real opportunity just after the hour mark when he made a good run in the box but opted to shoot, hitting a defender, instead of passing to well-placed teammates on the right.

Radiopane delivers killer blow

Moments after, Msendani had a chance to score from the same technique that he had missed from earlier when he floated the ball over the goalkeeper but watched agonizingly as it went just past the bar.

Mpho Chabatsane of Orlando Piates playing against Las Palmas. Photo: Orlando Pirates

That was in the 65^th minute and with the game looking headed for a goalless draw, Lungu threaded forward a defence splitting pass which found Radiopane in between the two Las Palmas centre-backs and the underutilised striker scored past the onrushing goalkeeper.

It is the second win for Pirates in their pre-season tour of Spain, coming after a 3-2 loss to Saudi side Al-Ittihad on Tuesday. The Soweto giants started with a 1-1 draw against Cordoba before beating Cadiz 2-1 and will complete with a clash against Neom SC of Saudi Arabia on Friday.