Veteran Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele gifted Royal AM a goal and was laterforced off injured as a bruising DSTV Premiership clash was drawn 1-1 in Soweto on Thursday.
Jele, who has been with the Buccaneers since 2006 and recently celebrated a 400th appearance for the former African champions, left the stadium on crutches having hurt his right leg in the second half.
Pirates squandered several good scoring chances in an empty stadium, due to coronavirus restrictions, and the result extended a winless league run to four matches.
A mix-up between centre-back Jele and goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane allowed leading Premiership scorer Victor Letsoalo to poke the ball across the goalmouth for Levy Mashiane to score on 32 minutes.
After Pirates failed to score several times from inside the box, Linda Mntambo equalised in the final minute of the opening half from close to the touchline.
Royal surrendered possession cheaply and Mntambo steered a speculative shot over Cameroonian goalkeeper Patrick Nyame into the far corner of the net.
There were far more yellow cards than clearcut scoring chances in the second half and 43 fouls during the match spoilt it for thousands of TV viewers.
Pirates have made a disappointing start to the season with only two league wins in eight outings and lie seventh, eight points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns having played one match more.
Then a second division side, Royal bought the franchise of Bloemfontein Celtic in August, less than a week before the season began, and are fourth behind Sundowns, Stellenbosch and SuperSport United.
