Cape Town - Orlando Pirates showed that fatigue is a major factor in football as they managed just one shot at goal in Tuesday's 2-0 loss to Esperance in a CAF Champions League Group B tie.
The Sea Robbers came into the clash having had virtually no rest following Saturday's Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
In addition, it appears the decision to switch the kick-off time from 21:00 to 15:00 also played a factor in Bucs' struggles against the reigning African champions.
Prior to the start of the game, Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic expressed his view that the kick-off time was changed to benefit the hosts, saying: "It is a bit unfortunate, the initial plan was to play at 9pm but after seeing we were playing against Chiefs, they changed the time of kick-off. We accept that, and we will look to play the match with the highest ambition."
Yet, the club from Soweto were far from their best as they managed just one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes from Vincent Pule.
The result sees Pirates drop to third in Group B following Horoya's 2-0 victory over FC Platinum.
Sredojevic's men usually control ball possession in the Premiership but managed just 46% on Tuesday. In addition, the passing accuracy was relatively low at 64%.
The club attempted five strikes on goal but only Pule tested the goalkeeper.
The side are next in action on February 20 when they play away against SuperSport United at Mbombela Stadium.