Orlando Pirates 0-0 Bidvest Wits: Another goalless draw for Zinnbauer's men

Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits settled for a share of the spoils as the match ended in a 0-0 draw at Ellis Park Stadium.

The Buccaneers remained third on the PSL standings after this encounter with 42 points from 25 league games. 

Wits, on the other hand, are two points behind the Sea Robbers but remain fifth on the log behind SuperSport United who are placed fourth. 

Josef Zinnbauer made a surprising inclusion to his usual starting line-up as Xola Mlambo made his debut since the German mentor arrived in December 2019. 

Luvuyo Memela also returned to the starting XI after missing the clash against Mamelodi Sundowns in midweek. 

Gavin Hunt welcomed Sfiso Hlanti back from suspension and he started on the left-hand side of the defence. 

The Buccaneers started brightly with Vincent Pule testing Ricardo Goss in the 20th-minute and the Wits keeper made a superb save to keep his side in the game. 

Soon after the half-hour mark, Wits nearly conceded following a miscommunication between Goss and Lorenzo Gordinho but Pule hit the wrong side of the net. 

Pule was all over the place giving his former employers a torrid time and he combined with Ben Motshwari and Memela but Goss went down to make a good save. 

Wits took the game to the Sea Robbers toward the end of the first-half but Haashim Domingo headed wide much to the relief of the Bucs technical team.  

Zinnbauer and Hunt gave what was a tough half-time talk during the break because both teams came back guns blazing after the restart. 

Domingo came close to breaking the deadlock inside the opening 10 minutes of the second-half as his attempted shot rattled the post with Wayne Sandilands beaten hands down. 

That didn't stop Zinnbauer's men as Gabadinho Mhango fired at Goss in the 62nd-minute but the Wits goalkeeper made a superb save.  

Goss was again in the thick of things as he made a point-blank range save in the 70th-minute as Bucs threw everything at Wits. 

Ultimately, both sides settled for a goalless draw as they failed to find the back of the net. 

This was Pirates' second consecutive goalless draw while Wits failed to score for the first time since the resumption of the current campaign. 

The goal-drought for Pirates continued in the end after failing to breakthrough in the final minutes. Their next assignment in the league sees them take on relegation-threatened Baroka FC on Tuesday.